Ingram Quoted in Lima News Story Titled “Mercer Farmers Sue ODNR”

Bruce Ingram, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and counsel to a group farmers/landowners, was quoted in a Lima News story about a lawsuit that the famers filed against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Director James Zehringer for his ongoing retaliation against them for exercising their federal constitutional rights to seek compensation from the state for the flooding of their properties.

The story states:

“A lawsuit was filed in federal court Thursday on behalf of a group of 52 farmers west of Grand Lake St. Marys against Ohio Department of Natural Resources director James Zehringer and unnamed employees in both ODNR and Gov. John Kasich’s office. The suit asserts that ODNR has worked to intimidate and retaliate against the landowners after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that the agency owed them compensation for increased flooding from a redesigned spillway at the lake. The spillway, redesigned in 1997 and expanded from 39 feet to nearly 500 feet, according to the complaint, was causing increased water flow into Beaver Creek, flooding onto affected property even after minimal rain events.

The department was held in contempt by the Supreme Court in 2012 for failing to compensate the farmers, while a second request to hold the department in contempt in 2014 was denied. According to the law firm representing the farmers — Bruce Ingram of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP — the department has since worked to undermine the eminent domain payouts to the affected landowners.”

To read the entire story, visit the Lima News website.