Marshall Fire Victims to Rebuild After Judge Tosses Lawsuit

(TNS) - The ticker on a website where Marshall fire victims go for community support registered Tuesday as the 89th day since the disaster. And after three months of legal disputes and hand wringing over when debris removal would begin, a judge threw out the remaining lawsuit over how the multimillion-dollar contract for fire cleanup was awarded.

Judge Thomas Howard ruled Monday that the founder of the nonprofit group Demanding Integrity in Government Spending, which filed an injunction and temporary restraining order against Boulder County, did not have any connection to the area of the Marshall fire burn and thus “does not claim that it would benefit or suffer any harm based on the outcome of the bid award.”

Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, who started DIGS, lived in Boulder County at one time, but has since moved to Centennial and is now a radio talk-show host. Brown did not respond to a request for comment.

Now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, the finger pointing by Boulder County, DIGS and the companies that lost out on the debris-removal bid could be over.

“The dismissal allows us to focus on the important next steps in helping fire survivors with recovery,” said Deputy County Attorney David Hughes.

Neal Shah, a town trustee in Superior, said it’s a positive step forward in the healing process: “We are happy that the judge dismissed the case so that cleanup can proceed unencumbered by the lawsuit. This community desperately needs to begin the arduous rebuilding process and getting debris removed is step one.”

Though some citizens who lost their homes in the Dec. 30 fire have circumvented the government and started cleanup on their own, at least 862 other residents have been caught in the middle as Boulder County waded through this lawsuit and an appeal by two of the 10 companies that were not chosen to do the debris removal.

On Feb. 10, the county awarded the contract to DRC Emergency Services, based in Galveston, Texas. Debris cleanup was originally expected to start March 1. The award was first set at $52 million but increased to $60 million. When asked why the cost went up, Boulder County did not respond.

Andrew Barth, spokesman for Boulder County Public Works, said DRC has finished right-of-way cleanup.

FEMA is responsible for 75% of the cost and the remaining 25% will be paid by local entities.

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