WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2016 - The already
complicated and politically charged legal case filed by the Des
Moines Water Works (DMWW) against a handful of northwest Iowa
drainage districts is growing more complex.
At least that’s the opinion of Kristine
Tidgren, staff attorney for Iowa State University’s Center
for Agricultural Law and Taxation. On Jan. 11, U.S.
District Judge Mark Bennett asked the Iowa Supreme Court to clarify Iowa law
regarding four questions, Tidgren wrote in a blog
post. The questions involve the interpretation
of “implied immunity” and other legal issues.
“This means that the Iowa Supreme Court
will have a large say in whether the tort claims brought by DMWW will be
dismissed. This also means that the Iowa Supreme Court will have a large say in
whether DMWW can continue its portion of the action seeking monetary tort
damages against the districts,” Tidgren noted.
“The certification does not impact the
merits of the Clean Water Act claims. However, it seems likely that the process
of certification will delay the entire action, perhaps by as much as a year. It
is unlikely that the scheduled August 2016 trial will occur, even if the court
were to bifurcate the proceedings.”
On March 16, 2015, the DMWW sued drainage
district trustees in Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun counties, alleging that they
allow nitrates -- beyond the amount permissible by law -- to move from farm
fields to the Des Moines watershed from which they must be removed by the DMWW
to meet federal standards for drinking water. The districts claim that they are
immune to the plaintiff’s claims and have also raised 15 other points of
defense.
#30
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