Three counties in northwest Iowa have spent $1.1 million on attorney fees to defend themselves against a lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works that blames the counties for high nitrate levels in river water, said the Des Moines Register. The utility says it spent $1.5 million in two years to remove nitrate from the water, which supplies 500,000 residents in the capital city area.
The Register said a privately formed group, the Agricultural Legal Defense Fund, “picked up a chunk of the $1.1 million” but its chief executive declined to say how much money it provided. Instead, Joel Brinkmeyer pointed to plans by the counties to release the information on Friday.
The counties say they will release the material in response to a request from the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. “Based on the counties’ documents released earlier this month, about $934,000 of the counties’ nearly $1.1 million legal bill had been paid by one or more confidential donors,” said the Register. Brinkmeyer declined to name donors to the defense fund. The Iowa Corn Growers Association has said it provided $200,000 to the defense fund and the Iowa Soybean Association said it gave $20,000.
The newspaper said the Water Works has paid $642,000 in legal fees on the lawsuit that it filed a year ago, and which is expected to go to trial later this year. If successful, the lawsuit could set a precedent by treating agriculture as a “point” source of pollution subject to federal clean water standards. At present, agriculture is exempt in most cases.