The Iowa Supreme Court rules a lawsuit filed by eight Muscatine residents over alleged air pollution should be allowed to proceed. The Muscatine residents filed suit against Grain Processing Corporation claiming the company’s wet milling facility causes harmful pollution and noxious odors that invade their land and diminish the use of their property. They are seeking to have the suit certified as a class action.

GPC countered that the claims are covered by the federal Clean Air Act, a companion Iowa law, and are also complex political and economic issues that can’t be solved in the courts. The district court ruled in favor of GPC and dismissed the lawsuit.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court ruling, saying the claims are not preempted by the issues cited by GPC. The Supreme Court ruling says the case should proceed in district court, while adding it is not expressing any view on the appropriateness of a class certification or on the underlying merits of the claims.

See the full ruling here: GPC lawsuit ruling PDF