A lawsuit claiming Cascade County illegally rezoned land east of Great Falls made its way to the Montana Supreme Court today.

The Montana Environmental Information Council and 60 plaintiffs believe the county used spot-zoning to change the land from agricultural to heavy industrial.

The MEIC is also arguing that the county has no regulations for conditionally rezoning land.

The plaintiffs say they're happy with today's hearing and feel the justices asked very pointed questions, but MEIC feels they were "sandbagged" by attorneys for Cascade County.

Alan McCormick, the attorney for Cascade County, says he just learned of the new zoning regulations about a week and a half ago, and that he filed a notice with the court that the plaintiff's case is now moot.

He also says the new zoning went through an 18-month public process, so there's no reason the plaintiffs shouldn't know about it.

We also spoke with Gary Zadick, the attorney for Southern Montana Electric; he told us that he was happy with today's hearing.

Zadick added that he expects the county and SME to win the judgement, just as they did in lower court.