It appears that the government's interest in this stems from a little-known lawsuit that's been lingering in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, for going on three years--a lawsuit that alleges Dallas "has caused countless tons of water pollution to enter and harm the Trinity River and its tributaries...in several ways." The suit was filed on December 9, 2003, by the Environmental Conservation Organization, a locally based nonprofit run by James B. Riley Jr. that claims the city willfully and flagrantly violated laws.
Put simply, ECO is accusing the city of sending dirty water from the zoo directly into Cedar Creek, which feeds into the Trinity; dumping oil and gas from its wastewater centers and from Love Field back into the Trinity; and allowing vendors at the Farmers Market to dump their wastewater into the watershed. The ECO's initial complaint has received scant news coverage outside the Dallas Observer cover story "Up the Crick" (by Paul Kix, June 24, 2004). ECO also charges that the city has committed some 150 permit violations.
The city, of course, denies every one of the ECO's allegations and has tried to get the case tossed out. Last July, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan rejected the ECO's charges that the city was dumping hazardous materials into the Trinity and its tributaries from various city-operated locations, claiming those allegations were "too broad" and, at the time of filing, unsubstantiated. (ECO claims it now has proof.) But Kaplan ruled that the suit could move forward with respect to storm-sewer system permit violations.
Durham says he expects the case to go to trial in June. No word what the Department of Justice will do, if anything. In the meantime, pray there isn't another flood.
