U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar is right when he says the American Canoe Association essentially “reached the goal of its litigation — to force Louisa to comply with the Clean Water Act regulations.” However, we doubt if the goals of American Canoe and the Sierra Club in the suit they filed against the city of Louisa in 2001 included bankrupting an eastern Kentucky town of 2,000.
But that is what could happen if the whopping $418,720 in attorney fees and $62,165 in other expenses Thapar has ordered Louisa to pay is not substantially reduced. Louisa City Attorney Elder E. “Bud” Adams Jr. is right when he says forcing the small town to pay the entire sum at one time would bankrupt the city and “obviously disrupt the vital functions of the city.” Instead of investing tax dollars for vital services like road maintenance and police and fire protection, the city would be forced to shell out the equivalent of more than $20,000 per resident to pay the fees of attorneys in Washington, D.C.
To be sure, the lawsuit had a positive impact. Within a few months after American Canoe filed the suit accusing the city of violating the federal Clean Water Act by polluting the Big Sandy River with discharges from its water treatment plant, the city reached a settlement with the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet in which it agreed to renovate its water treatment plant and be in compliance with the Clean Water Act by March of 2003.
While the city didn’t meet that deadline, the completion of its new water treatment plant in October of 2003 did bring the city into compliance in the eyes of the state cabinet.
American Canoe’s lawsuit was dismissed in June 2002 for lack of standing, but the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals overrode that dismissal and American Canoe’s suit was reinstated in November 2004.
All this legal maneuvering costs money, and Thapar has ruled Louisa is responsible for paying American Canoe’s legal fees. The city not only disputes the amount of the legal fees but also argues the city should not be responsible for any of the legal fees of either American Canoe or the Sierra Club.
It is time for reason to prevail. While the lawsuit may have helped shorten the timetable for Louisa to be in compliance with federal law, we have little doubt that the city eventually would have been forced to make the required improvements to cease polluting the Big Sandy River. After all, the city reached its agreement with the state cabinet to make those improvements without the active involvement of either American Canoe or the Sierra Club.
Our hope is that the legal fees owed by the city are substantially reduced and that a reasonable, affordable timetable for paying those fees is established.
After all, bankruptcy for the city would be counterproductive. Not only would the city be unable to provide essential services to its residents, but it also would lack the resources to continue to properly operate its water treatment plant and remain in compliance with the Clean Water Act.
