$220M GWA, Core Tech land dispute to drag on

A $220 million legal dispute over land that’s being used for Guam’s northern district wastewater treatment plant will continue, with Judge Elyze Iriarte denying both sides’ attempts to sway the lawsuit in their favor.

Iriarte did clarify a key matter in the case, however, noting that the court has yet to decide whether construction company Core Tech International owns the property that the Guam Waterworks Authority-operated wastewater treatment plant sits on.

Parts of a decision issued last August which may have “implied otherwise” have been rescinded, according to an order that Iriarte issued on April 16.

As of December, GWA has spent over $1.4 million paying attorneys in the dispute with Core Tech.

The Public Utilities Commission has authorized GWA to spend $1 million more to fight the case.

Core Tech claims it owns the land that the wastewater plant sits on, and is suing GWA for $220 million in damages over unpaid rent going back to 1980.

Last month, both received denial of their motions for the court to reconsider Iriarte’s August 2023 decision that left neither side with a victory in the case, documents state.

Iriarte last August ruled that Core Tech could rely on the certificates of title it obtained in 2015 for the land in Dededo, and the company’s title to the land is protected under Guam law.

But the judge stopped short of dismissing GWA’s lawsuit against Core Tech, which seeks to revoke the certificates.

Iriarte in August said it was an “undisputed fact” that GWA had processed the property since it was deeded the parcel by GovGuam in 1997, and could therefore bring forth a lawsuit over ownership.

A key dispute in the case is over the legitimacy of Core Tech’s certificates of title, which were first issued by the Department of Land Management to an ancestral landowner in 2006, despite the fact that GWA was operating the plant on site.

Certificates of title ended up in Core Tech’s hands after the property was first sold and then foreclosed on.

But Iriarte’s April order rescinds two sentences in the August order, which deal with whether GWA’s interest in the wastewater plant land reverted to GovGuam, and whether GovGuam had conveyed the property to “third parties,” in this case, the estate of Jose Martinez Torres.

“The court’s discussion as to whether Core Tech can rely on the certificates of title did not determine that the certificates...were evidence of ownership,” Iriarte stated, in response to concern from GWA about the “superiority” of Core Tech’s title to the land.

But Iriarte once again denied GWA’s motion for summary judgment, which asked for Core Tech’s certificates of title to be revoked.

“The court intends to resolve the title and ownership issues before turning its attention to potentially amending and cancelling certificates of title,” Iriarte stated.

A series of arguments that Core Tech made through its attorneys, who asked Iriarte to reconsider the facts of her August order, were likewise denied.

Parties were set to appear before Iriarte Wednesday for a status hearing, but the hearing was rescheduled for next Thursday.

GovGuam and Land Management first sued Core Tech in 2018 over the company’s certificates of title for the wastewater treatment plant land. GWA joined the suit in 2019.

Core Tech countersued in 2020, claiming GovGuam and GWA had illegally condemned the land and were encroaching on Core Tech property after tearing down Core Tech’s fences to expand the wastewater facility.