Grant Rodgers

The Des Moines Register

A lawsuit brought against a Muscatine corn processing plant will be allowed to move forward as a class-action, potentially setting up the company to owe damages to approximately 4,000 residents affected by emissions from the plant.

The five-year-old lawsuit brought by eight residents was approved by a district court judge in 2015 to represent a group of more than 4,000 people who've lived near a corn wet mill owned by Grain Processing Corp. The company urged in an appeal that the judge's order should be overturned, arguing in part that the alleged harms suffered by Muscatine homeowners vary enough that they can't be brought to trial in one action.

But Iowa Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman rejected those arguments in a unanimous ruling issued Friday. The differing experiences of Muscatine residents with emissions from the plant might ultimately affect how much a person receives in damages if the plaintiffs are successful, but they do not bar the case from moving forward to trial as a class-action, he wrote.

Sarah Siskind, a Madison, Wisc. attorney who is representing the residents, called the decision a "landmark ruling" for people in Muscatine affected by the plant's emissions. Siskind said a trial date could be set after the case is formally sent from the supreme court back down to a district court judge.

"It gives the plaintiffs the green-light to get the class-wide claims to trial," she said.

The lawsuit claims that pollution from the plant has blown onto properties in the city's south end, leaving foul smells and fueling fears about cancer and other health problems. The family company has faced accusations for that it knowingly used outmoded dryers and coal-fired boilers that left a haze over the eastern Iowa town.

A district court judge in 2014 ordered Grain Processing to pay a record $1.5 million civil penalty to the state as part of a lawsuit brought by the Iowa Attorney General's Office that accused the plant of pumping out excess particulate matter and failing to repair equipment that could have prevented the pollution. The company also agreed to switch from using coal to power its boilers to cleaner-burning natural gas and to install other air pollution control systems.

"GPC is disappointed the Iowa Supreme Court has allowed a class certification to be upheld," said Janet Sichterman, a corporate spokesperson for the company. "We will review the ruling in its entirety and determine our best legal strategy going forward. GPC takes its commitment to environmental sustainability very seriously. In fact, GPC has worked diligently to lower emissions by making investments in a new and fully operational $83 million feed dryer house, eliminating coal as a fuel source along with other ongoing sustainability projects."

Grain Processing produces corn syrup, starches, ethyl alcohol sold to the beverage industry and other products using the corn wet mill in Muscatine and another facility in Indiana.

“I think it’s a great day for Muscatine residents who have suffered from air pollution, particularly on the south end of the city and also a great day for Iowans who in their own circumstances may seek legal remedies for environmental pollution," said James Larew, an Iowa City attorney also representing the plaintiffs.