Bettendorf -- like 13 other Iowa cities -- ponied up $25,000 last fall to challenge U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations concerning the discharge of untreated sewage into rivers when heavy rains overtax municipal sewage treatment facilities.
The lawsuit filed by the Iowa League of Cities, however, was tossed before any arguments on the merits of the case were heard because the league's law firm failed to file a response to the EPA's motion to dismiss.
Hall & Associates, a Washington, D.C. law firm, sought to have the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reconsider dismissal of the suit, claiming it had been misled by court clerks about filing deadlines on the motion to dismiss. That motion was denied as well.
The 14 Iowa cities who were party to the lawsuit apparently are now out $170,000 in taxpayer money allocated to the Iowa League of Cities to mount the EPA legal challenge.
Each city participating in the suit was asked to commit up to $25,000. Bettendorf officials said the entire amount was sent the league to help fund the lawsuit.
Ottumwa Mayor Dale Uehling, past president of the league of cities who led the effort to challenge the EPA rules, said his city spent about $12,000 and he believed the lawsuit "was a partial victory even though the suit was dismissed."
He said the EPA was overstepping its authority and Iowa communities were rightly concerned with the cost-benefit of the EPA regulations. Since the lawsuit, Uehling said the EPA has "a changed attitude" and has had " to rethink what it was doing" as far as following their rule-making process.
Uehling said the cities were not against clean water, but felt the EPA was not concerned about the cost-benefit of its proposed rules. He said the EPA was not following its own rule-making procedures in implementing more stringent regulations concerning sewage treatment bypasses.
He said the league still may refile the case in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Related articles:
• Keokuk agrees to address sewage overflows to Mississippi River
• Bettendorf anticipates $7 million for sewage treatment plant expansion
• City discharges millions of gallons of sewage into Mississippi River each year
