January 2009

U.S. Water News Online

MILWAUKEE — An appeals court says the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District must pay a business for damaging the structure of its building during a construction project.

The decision means the taxpayer-funded MMSD will have to pay E-L Enterprises Inc. $624,000 already ordered by a judge plus an additional amount in attorneys fees for bringing the appeal.

E-L Enterprises filed suit in 2004, saying MMSD's construction of a sewer line beneath its building caused extensive structural damage.

A jury last year agreed the project drained groundwater beneath the building, resulting in rotting wood pilings and causing the building to settle.

The District 1 Court of Appeals has rejected several arguments MMSD raised on appeal.

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