A Michigan judge lifted a stay last week on a lawsuit brought by victims of catastrophic mid-Michigan flooding in 2020, ordering the state to file its first answer in the three-year-old case before the end of November, MLive.com reported. Court of Claims Judge Douglas Shapiro ordered the case — filed in 2020 as multiple separate lawsuits alleging that state regulatory decisions contributed to the disastrous failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams — to move toward trial, and sharply criticized the state’s posture in his ruling. The lawsuits, led by plaintiff David Krieger, claim that the state shares blame for the disaster after allowing former Edenville Dam owner Boyce Hydro to raise water levels in Wixom Lake. The reservoir gushed into the Tittabawassee River and inundated downstream properties in May 2020 after the dam collapsed following three days of rain. The torrent flooded downtown Midland and caused upwards of $209 million in damage. About 10,000 residents were forced to temporarily evacuate. Flooded property owners and insurers have alleged “inverse condemnation,” claiming the decisions made by the state departments of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and Natural Resources (DNR) damaged their property without providing compensation. The state has moved to dismiss the case by arguing it is shielded by governmental immunity, however Shapiro and other judges have ruled that immunity doesn’t apply. Flood victims who are suing the state have been unable to pursue claims against Boyce Hydro and its former owner, Lee Mueller, due to chapter 11 bankruptcy protection granted in 2020. Mueller filed for a chapter 13 bankruptcy this year.
