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Hackworth, who gave a lengthy deposition in Anderson's case, was cited in DiNardi's decision: "Mr. Hackworth testified that, in response to the issues raised by Ms. Anderson concerning the Lowry Landfill, other Board members commented: 'We never should have let her on this Board.' Mr. Hackworth admitted telling 'the individual that does the appointing' of Metro directors that 'he would hope that he didn't reappoint Adrienne Anderson."

Anderson wasn't reappointed -- but her mistreatment by Metro continued, the judge said.

At least one former boardmember agrees. "I, for one, was shocked and appalled at the way Adrienne Anderson was treated when she served on this board by MWRD's upper echelon, when she simply attempted to bring important information about worker safety and health concerns to our attention," former boardmember Al Levin wrote in a letter he distributed to the board at a meeting October 16. "From documents I have since reviewed, I now know that the majority of board members, including me, were kept in the dark about important facts about the Lowry deal by management and certain key MWRD leaders, who failed to disclose significant conflicts of interest over Lowry."

Metro plans to appeal DiNardi's decision.

"I think that they file this appeal at their own risk," Kohn says. "I have seen cases go from the tens of thousands into the millions because of the intransigence of the employer, and it looks like the Metro district is headed that way."

Ironically, some of the facts that were such a matter of dispute back in 1997 have been settled -- not by a judge, but by the Environmental Protection Agency. In a draft report released this summer, the EPA finally acknowledged that "the remedy in its present state is not protective of human health and environment" at Lowry. Among other problems, the EPA cited low levels of plutonium and other man-made radioactive contaminates in the site's groundwater.