05/26/2009

Associated Press

A group of Platte County farmers have filed suit against an area utility accusing it of not maintaining a levee they say has caused flooding that destroyed their crops.

The 10 farmers filed the lawsuit Friday, in Platte County Circuit Court, claiming the levee protecting Kansas City Power & Light's Iatan power plant near Weston was negligently built and maintained. They are seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages.

The farmer said KCP&L has warned the levee was not constructed properly and was not tall enough to hold back a flood.

The farmers' attorney, Grant Davis, said they have met with the utility several times.

"KCP&L's representatives told them that it was not legally responsible for the defects in the levee, even though they'd been warned about it for years," Davis said.

A utility spokesman declined to comment to The Kansas City Star and did not immediately return a comment Tuesday to The Associated Press.

The farmers said the levee has caused flooding in the area or made flooding worse. In 2007 and 2008, floodwaters topped the levee and spread for several miles. The farmers claim the water damaged their property and destroyed their crops.

In summer 2007, KCP&L cut a hole in the levee to allow water to drain, but improperly repaired the levee and rising waters breached it again in June 2008, they said.

They also said that while KCP&L has said it would fix the levee, the utility hasn't fulfilled those promises.

According to the lawsuit, the flooded land included several farms that have been managed by the same family for more than 100 years.

The lawsuit also claims that plaintiff Ted Johnson was told by a KCP&L official that the utility cared more about its own land than the farmers' property.

___

Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com