Sewage Leak Gets Couple $1.25 M Settlement

The Atlanta City Council will pay homeowners $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit involving a ruptured pipe that sent sewage into their house.

Homeowners Andrew Capron and Kirsten Valentine said the April 21, 2006, rupture of the pipe in their front yard destroyed their kitchen, living room and master bedroom.

The couple and their 3-year-old daughter lived with Capron's mother and then stayed in an apartment until repairs were done and a professional microbiologist determined the house was decontaminated.

The couple sued the city in Fulton County Superior Court, saying officials failed to maintain the sewer line properly. The city disagreed.

Judge Wendy Shoob ordered both sides to mediation and the settlement was reached. The council agreed to pay Monday with money to come from the city's Watershed Management Department.

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,

http://www.ajc.com

(AP)

Rural schools drop lawsuit against state

The Consortium for Adequate School Funding in Georgia is dropping it's lawsuit against the state because the group doesn't approve of a new judget. The lawsuit contends that education is not funded adequately in the State as is required by the Georgia constitution. The case had been in Fulton County Superior court for several years and was scheduled to go to trial next month.

Consortium officials say the new judge Craig L. Schwall who is now handling the case was appointed to the bench by Governor Sonny Perdue and used to be chaiman of the Fulton County Republican Party. In a statement Jeffery Welch, President of the Consortium says "The issues in this case are so vital to the future of our state that they must be insulated from even the appearance of partisan politics."

The consotium says it will now take other actions, including the filing of a new lawsuit in another court in Georgia.

State appeals court to consider SW Ga power plant issue

The state’s court of appeals will review a lower-court ruling that stopped plans for Georgia’s first coal-fired power plant in more than 20 years. The court will look at whether the state’s Enviromental Protection Division should have legal limits on carbon dioxide emissions by the plant. In June, a ruling by a Fulton County Superior Court judge sided with environmental groups opposing the project—she stated permits are invalid because they do not regulate CO2.
The planned 2-billion dollar facility in southwest Georgia is a project of Houston, Texas-based Dynegy Inc. Both Dynegy and the EPD moved to appeal the decision.