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More landowners join Missouri River flood lawsuit

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October 16th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The list of landowners suing the federal government over major flooding along the Missouri River since 2006 has grown considerably. The lawsuit filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in March was amended Thursday to include 436 plaintiffs. The latest additions to the lawsuit include 38 North Dakota landowners and the Omaha and Winnebago tribes of Nebraska.

The landowners argue that the Corps’ decisions since 2006 have contributed to flooding especially during the extended 2011 flooding that devastated hundreds of thousands of acres of mostly farmland in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

The federal government has denied the allegations and says the Corps shouldn’t be blamed. Landowners say the recurring flooding deprived them of their land, so they should be compensated.