by Mindy Aguon

Guam - District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco Gatewood has denied the government of Guam's motion for reconsideration in the Ordot Dump consent decree case. The judge denied the request to reconsider its previous decision disallowing a full substitution of counsel for the government.

She found that the government of Guam failed to meet its heavy burden to show any grounds for reconsideration. In her decision, the judge cited the government's past history of failing to comply with the consent decree and other court orders, specifically calling attention to the government "undermining the Receiver's efforts to fund the consent decree projects". The court noted that the Ordot Dump operations were supposed to cease in October 2007 but because of the government's mismanagement, the operations did not cease until August 2011 under the receiver.

Tydingco-Gatewood wrote, "The court finds that a full substitution of the Cabot Mantanona firm for the Attorney General in this case will likely result in substantial delay to the final closure of the Ordot Dump and significant expenses to the Receiver and ultimately the government." The government, through Governor's Legal Counsel Sandra Miller, had requested the court reconsider her decision and allow the Cabot Mantanona firm to represent the government on all matters related to the Ordot consent decree lawsuit citing a conflict of interest between the AG's Office and the federal receiver.