South Dakota couple files lawsuit against FS for mine destruction

A South Dakota couple today filed a lawsuit against the United States in South Dakota federal district court to recover for the purposeful destruction of the couple’s property by federal employees. Arron and Judy Marston, who own valuable mining claims in Custer County, South Dakota, in the Black Hills, filed their lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which waives federal sovereign immunity for civil wrongs committed by federal agents. In July 2008, the Marstons had filed a FTCA claim alleging that, when U.S. Forest Service employees or their agents entered upon the Marstons’ claims and bulldozed the drift, shaft, and trenches, the U.S. Forest Service engaged in unlawful trespass, negligently destroyed property, and committed a nuisance, as those terms are defined by South Dakota law. In their claim, the Marstons contend that the cost of restoring the drift, shaft, and trenches is $400,185.46. Because the United States took no action on the claim, the Marstons may sue in federal court. “The behavior of employees of the federal government in this matter shocks the conscience,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents the Marstons. “It is astonishing that Forest Service and its employees believe they may destroy private property.”...MSLF