BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Ada County has enlisted an outside prosecutor to scrutinize complaints over alleged irregularities in a contract with a company aiming to build a waste-to-energy plant at the local landfill.

    The Idaho Statesman reports Bannock County prosecutor Mark Hiedeman will lead the probe into the contract between Ada County and Dynamis.

    A group calling itself Citizens for a Safe Environment and a Transparent Government filed a complaint in June, asking Ada County Prosecutor Greg Bower to investigate.

    Ada County has given Dynamis $2 million to help design the project, and critics contend meetings prior to the deal may have violated Idaho's open meetings law. Since Bower's staff counseled county commissioners on the project and helped craft the contracts, he sought a special prosecutor to avoid a conflict of interest.

    “I have full faith that (Hiedeman) and his team will produce a thorough report that addresses the allegations at hand,” Bower said Tuesday.

    County Commission Chairman Rick Yzaguirre said in a statement that all activities in conjunction with Dynamis were legal, and he hopes the investigation puts to rest accusations of impropriety against the project at the county landfill.

    “All activities surrounding the Dynamis contract were conducted within the strict confines of the law, and we look at this inquiry as a way to once and for all put an end to false allegations that critics of the project have spread throughout our communities,” Yzaguirre said in a new release.

    Ada County signed the contract with Dynamis two years ago.

    Since then, the company has won a power purchase agreement with Idaho Power for its electricity, but has yet to begin building. It's still seeking regulatory approval from the state Department of Environmental Quality and has yet to apply for a building permit.

    It will be the Eagle-based company's first waste-to-energy plant, and Dynamis will build, own and operate it.

    Ada County hopes to benefit by saving space at the landfill and avoiding expensive expansion efforts by providing Dynamis with up to 408 tons of trash daily — waste that will be heated to a high temperature, converted into gas and then electricity.

    Vocal foes, some of whom live in communities near the landfill, have engaged in an active email campaign, raising concerns that processing garbage the way Dynamis foresees could result in harmful emissions.