The lawsuit, filed in 2nd District Court, contends last December's Box Elder County Commission decision to sell the landfill should stand.

It was an administrative decision, "not the proper subject of a referendum," the lawsuit argues. The suit was filed last week and assigned to Judge Ben Hadfield. No hearing had been scheduled in the case by Monday afternoon.

Box Elder County and its recorder, LuAnn Adams, are named as defendants. This puts two county commissioners in the unusual position of suing their own county.

Clark Davis and Jay Hardy also sit on the board of the Northern Utah Regional Landfill Authority, organized last year to find a spot where garbage from five northern Utah counties can eventually be dumped.

Participating in the authority are Box Elder County; Weber County; Logan City, which handles all of Cache County's garbage; and the Wasatch Integrated Waste Management System, which handles all the garbage in Morgan and Davis counties, except for Bountiful's.

The five counties settled on the Little Mountain landfill southwest of Tremonton as the best option for disposing garbage. Weber County could begin sending its waste soon, but Cache County and Wasatch Integrated wouldn't need the landfill for several years.

Residents opposed to selling Little Mountain - as well as some who want a more public debate - circulated petitions for a referendum. Adams certified the petition after Box Elder County Attorney Stephen Hadfield concluded the landfill-sale petition was valid.

kmoulton@sltrib.com