ELR Citation: ELR 20313
No(s). 02-C-270 (E.D. Wis. Dec 14, 2007)

On remand, a district court again dismissed a citizen suit against a municipal sewage district on res judicata grounds because a 2002 agreement with state regulators was “calculated in good faith” to address repeated sewer overflows into Lake Michigan. The state is in privity with the plaintiffs because the original agreement was intended to address overflows. The fact that overflows have continued since the agreement does not undercut this finding when the agreement itself allows for future overflows. Courts must assume that state agencies act diligently in executing their duties, and here it appears that the state attempted to ensure compliance in 2002.