Quarry Owner, Opponents Wrangle Over Lawyer

John Barella, the founder and former CEO of North Bay Construction who wants to develop the controversial Roblar Road Quarry west of Petaluma, has filed a motion in Sonoma County Superior Court to dismiss the attorney representing a citizens’ group opposed to the project.

The motion, set to be heard tomorrow, argues that the pro-bono attorney for Citizens Advocating for Roblar Road Quality (CARRQ) presents a conflict of interest because his firm, San Francisco-based Morgan Lewis, has since 2002 provided counsel to , a commercial developer which built the Theater District and in which Barella is the single largest investor.

Barella believes that the lawfirm is in the possession of confidential information received from himself and BSP that “is substantially related to the case.” In the motion, filed last month, Barella, who according to court documents has loaned close to $100 million to Basin Street Properties since 1996 and sits on its board, argues that he and Basin Street Properties are essentially one and the same.

“I take an active role in the management and affairs of Basin Street and its related entities,” Barella declared in the motion. “The quarry project is part of my long term strategy with Basin Street, as it will provide raw material to be used in our land developments over the next twenty years…Under the … ‘alter ego’ test, Barella and Basin Street [are] considered the same for conflict of interest purposes.”

Morgan Lewis has said that because it represents only an entity, it “owes no duty of loyalty to Barella” and is free to sue him while simultaneously representing Basin Street.

Michael Molland is the Morgan Lewis attorney representing CARRQ, a group of about 200 quarry neighbors opposed to the project. But he also lives close to the proposed quarry site and has spoken out against the impact of trucks on traffic and air quality.

“We don’t know how many people are going to get killed on the Valley Ford Highway, which I travel every day to work, because of the trucks,” Molland said at a Sonoma County Planning Commission hearing in December of 2009. “No analysis of how many people who live around the area are going to have their life spans shortened from PM2.5 (a term for particles found in dust, dirt, soot and smoke) and all the other pollutants coming out this landfill.”

Quarry opponents have argued that the motion is a weak attempt to derail the lawsuit, filed in January of this year.

"It’s a tactical ploy to get rid of our lawyer," said Sue Buxton, who lives near Roblar Road and is part of CARRQ.

The motion will be heard Wednesday by Judge Elliot Daum at 3pm.