This day in history: Spokane law legend Carl Maxey filed a $3 million suit against the city over its intentional river dumping

From 1975: Attorney Carl Maxey filed $2.95 million in damage claims against the City of Spokane after the city dumped raw sewage into the Spokane River for three days.

The lawsuits were on behalf of a number of residents downstream of the discharge.

The claims alleged that the sewage “created a health hazard, polluted the river and the claimants’ source of drinking water and disturbed the wildlife habitat of the river.”

City officials had earlier said that they regretted the discharge, but had no viable alternative because it was necessary during construction of treatment plant improvements.

From 1925: The Great Northern Railway and the Washington Water Power Co. were moving forward on a “30-year dream” – an 8.5-mile-long tunnel beneath the Cascade Range passes.

It would be a “shorter, safer and cheaper route” to the coast, eliminating the danger from heavy snows and avalanches.

The power company was an integral part of the plan, because a long tunnel trip required electric locomotives. The railroad and power company were involved in negotiations to develop a hydroelectric plant on Lake Chelan to provide the electricity for such a project.

The Great Northern was already planning “to electrify its line from Spokane through Central Washington.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1945: Chinese civil war begins between the Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong’s Communist Party.