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The Iowa Farm Bureau and other commodity groups are bankrolling legal expenses racked up in defense of a lawsuit filed by Des Moines Water Works over nitrate pollution in the Raccoon River, a Farm Bureau spokesman confirmed.
Water Works filed suit last year against drainage districts in three northwest Iowa counties — Buena Vista, Calhoun and Sac — claiming that the districts, and indirectly farmers, are raising nitrate levels in the river, a source of water for 500,000 Iowa residents.
But exactly where the money is coming from to litigate the expensive lawsuit — and how much it will cost — has been a question mark.
The Storm Lake Times made repeated requests for the information about how the counties have financed their defense, contacting the auditors and supervisors in every county named in the suit. Only Buena Vista County Auditor Sue Lloyd and Supervisor Paul Merten responded.
Lloyd said she knew nothing about how the law firms are paid or how much they will charge. Merten said the “the lion’s share” of the defense is paid by a fund out of Des Moines.
Buena Vista County Supervisor Dale Arends said an accounting of their legal fees would be made after the lawsuit is finished. The county just passed a budget for next year that includes nothing for legal expenses or potential damages.
The counties hired local drainage attorneys Belin McCormick of Des Moines and Crowell & Moring of Washington, D.C., to defend them against the Water Works lawsuit.
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The counties have raised $100,000 to pay their local attorneys, with a conglomerate of agricultural groups paying the rest.
Merten said the counties’ drainage attorneys receive funds through three entities: a fund established by the Iowa Drainage District Association, to which other counties may donate; a fund established in Sac County for local donations; and a third fund in Des Moines.
So far, the drainage district association has raised $153,250, according to John Torbert, the group's director. He said $90,000 came from public entities and the rest from the private sector.
Merten said the Des Moines fund pays for the counties’ bills from Belin McCormick of Des Moines and Crowell & Moring of Washington, D.C., while the funds established by the drainage district association and Sac cover expenses incurred from local drainage attorneys.
“I’m assuming the one in Des Moines is for Farm Bureau, Corn Growers, the Pork Producers and any kind of commodity group out there," Merten said. "… I don’t know how much they’ve raised, who contributes. … I don’t even know the name of it.”
The Agribusiness Association of Iowa said in November it created a fund to help the counties defend themselves against the lawsuit, but the amount of money raised and the donors who have contributed to it are private because of its nonprofit status.
"I’ll just say this: It's is a very expensive lawsuit for agriculture," said Joel Brinkmeyer, the association's CEO late last year, "not just the dollars, but the time and resources that agriculture is spending to defend their position."
Brinkmeyer couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Laurie Johns, communications director for Iowa Farm Bureau, confirmed that a host of groups are paying for the counties’ defense. But she said she doesn't know who they all are.
“I know there’s a lot out there, the corn growers, the Farm Bureau, but I’m not sure about the others,” Johns said.
Farm Bureau helped pay for a $157,000 TV ad buy in the Des Moines market criticizing the Water Works. The ads were purchased by Partnership for Clean Water, a group funded by Farm Bureau and led by Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, a Republican eyeing a run for governor; as well as U.S. Senate candidate Patty Judge, a Democrat who served as Iowa secretary of agriculture.
Johns referred The Times to Chuck Becker, a shareholder and lawyer from Belin McCormick for further funding details. Becker didn’t return a call for a comment.
Merten said the fund receives bills from Belin McCormick and Crowell & Moring and pays them without informing supervisors or auditors in the three counties.
“We have no idea what’s coming in and out over there,” Merten said.
Water Works says it needs to update its aging nitrate system and cover costs of removing excessive nitrate from the Raccoon River.
Water Works has released legal bills of $550,000 to date and approved spending up to $700,000.
“We budgeted for (the suit) in two pieces,” Water Works CEO Bill Stowe said. “First, we approved a contract with our lawyers not to exceed $250,000. After that, we approved another $450,000. It’s like a construction contract.”
Stowe said Water Works foots most of its legal bills from Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen of Des Moines, which is representing the utility. He suspects that the counties being sued are incurring more costs.
“After discovery and expert testimony, I wouldn’t be surprised if they spent much more than we have … over $1 million,” said Stowe, who is an attorney.
Merten revealed the funding information after The Times enlisted the Iowa Freedom of Information Council to urge the county officials to release public documents relating to bills by the law firms. The council's Executive Director, Randy Evans, sent a letter Wednesday to the auditors and supervisors in the three counties explaining that the legal bills and receipt accounts connected to the counties are public records under Iowa law.
“This secrecy deprives the taxpayers of your counties — the people ultimately obligated to pay the expense of the counties’ legal defense — of information they need to effectively evaluate this important issue,” Evans wrote. “Such public accountability is precisely what the Legislature had in mind when it wrote the open records law. Indeed, accountability for the expenditure of government money is a hallmark of the Iowa Open Records Act.
“If Buena Vista, Calhoun and Sac counties continue to treat the documents enumerated above as government secrets, you run the risk of eroding the public’s trust in your counties and in your stewardship as elected officials of these counties.”
Evans and The Times have requested all bills, agreements between the counties and lawyers and any other documents that can shed light on how the bills are paid and by whom.
Evans asked that the counties provide the information by March 31.
Register reporters Donnelle Eller and Tim Meinch contributed to this story.
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