DENVER—U.S. District Judge Walker Miller has delayed a trial over allegations that the city of Colorado Springs polluted Fountain Creek in violation of the Clean Water Act.
The Pueblo Chieftain said the city had opposed the delay because it would raise their operating costs and cause disruptions in the sewage system.
The Sierra Club requested the delay, saying the judge’s decision to remove Pueblo County District Attorney Bill Thiebault as a plaintiff had made their job much harder because he was supposed to be the lead counsel. “This is a very large, very complicated water case,” said Eric Huber, Sierra Club lawyer.
The trial, scheduled to start Sept. 17, is now set for Jan. 28.
Miller said during a Friday hearing that his calendar was full until late January except for the Christmas-New Year’s holiday period, but Colorado Springs lawyers said they couldn’t be available then.
John Walsh, representing the city, said the two sides had tried to settle the case but had reached an impasse.
Thiebault, meanwhile, filed a motion proposing new reasons that the county should be allowed to take part. He said the judge had erred in his decision that the county does not have the right to try to enforce the Clean Water Act with a lawsuit.
The district attorney said he is suing under federal law, not state law. “Congress clearly grants ‘any citizen’ the right” to bring a lawsuit of the type Thiebault did, his filing said. Miller ruled state agencies had already acted.
Thiebault contended that the judge overlooked claims for violations of the city’s permit limits on chlorine and three spills in December 2006-February 2007 that were not covered by any state health department order.
