Judge: Red River Suit Duplicates Federal Complaint
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a state lawsuit filed by upstream opponents of a Red River flood control project duplicates a federal complaint.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits the lawsuit from moving forward in Minnesota state court.
The Richland-Wilkin Joint Powers Authority is made up of representatives from about 20 cities and townships in North Dakota and Minnesota. The group filed the lawsuit in Minnesota in June. It came just days after President Barack Obama signed a water project bill that authorizes construction of the nearly $2 billion channel that would move floodwaters around the metropolitan area.
The Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority has claimed the lawsuit filed in Minnesota was meant to delay the project.
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