A local couple has filed a lawsuit against Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry and other city officials over a sewage overflow that caused significant damage to their home.
Local attorney Tim Parker filed the complaint on Aug. 8 in Carroll County Circuit Court on behalf of Eureka Springs residents Rob and Amanda Shoeman. Defendants in the lawsuit are Berry, city public works director Simon Wiley and Terry Long, manager of the city’s wastewater plant, all in their official capacities.
According to the complaint, the Shoemans were not home in late January when a crew was working on city sewer lines near their home on Alexander Street. When the Shoemans returned home, they discovered “vast amounts of raw, untreated sewage in their basement that had entered through the toilets, bathtub and plumbing of the home.”
A second overflow occurred while a cleanup crew was working to remove the raw sewage and damaged property from the home, the complaint says, resulting in a second cleanup being necessary.
The complaint filed by Parker says several similar incidents of “unpermitted discharges” into private homes and businesses have occurred and lists eight such incidents.
The complaint alleges that neither the city nor the public works department “took any action to correct the problems other than causing the second sewage backup into the Shoemans’ home.”
The complaint cites the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and argues that the “actions and omissions” of the defendants and the city public works department “constitutes a taking by inverse condemnation in that the city and its Department of Public Works used the Shoemans’ home as a sewer relief location … .”
The complaint also alleges breach of contract and seeks a permanent injunction against the city and the public works department from any further overflows.
The complaint demands a jury trial and seeks compensatory damages of $500,000 as well as court costs and attorney’s fees.
Berry declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Arkansas Municipal League attorney Brie Gibson, who represents the defendants, commented briefly by email on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
“While the sewage back flow event at the Shoeman’s home is certainly unfortunate, as soon as the City was notified of the issue, City employees acted quickly and efficiently to determine the cause and implement a solution to stop the back flow from occurring,” Gibson’s email says. “The Defendants deny that the City, or any of its officials or employees, acted unlawfully.”
Also on Sept. 10, Gibson filed notice of the defendants’ intention to remove the case to federal court based on the complaint’s Fifth Amendment allegations. Based on that notice, Gibson filed a motion seeking a stay of the circuit court proceedings.
