2nd hearing set in Pioneer legal battle

A trial in August will decide whether Pioneer Rural Water gets to build a treatment plant.  Meantime, however, sources and court records indicate a second hearing in the case is set next week in Anderson.  On Thursday morning, May 25 in Anderson, Pioneer attorneys will argue for writs of mandamus that would require Oconee County to issue a building permit for the project and order the Joint Regional Sewer Authority, and these are words from the pleadings, “to cease and desist purporting to require connection of the Facility to OJRSA’s sewer line, and to provide approval for the construction of the DHEC-approved septic system for the Facility…”  When Pioneer attorneys argue for the writ of mandamus they will be requesting what, in legal circles, is considered an extraordinary order.  Writs of mandamus have their origins with 17th century English law.  They have the effect of commanding a party in a legal proceeding without the benefit of a full judicial process, or before a case is concluded.