Northeast Iowa Citizens for Clean Water v. Agriprocessors, Inc.

ORDER

READE, Chief Judge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION.886

II. BACKGROUND.886

A. Factual Background.886

B. Procedural Background.886

1. NICCW’s Complaint.886

2. United States’s Complaint.887

3. Intervention.887

4. Consolidation.887

5. AgriProcessors’s Answers to the Complaints.887

6. Consent Decree.887

7. Application.888

III. STATUTORY FRAMEWORK.888

IV. SHOULD THE COURT AWARD NICCW LITIGATION COSTS?.889

A. Is NICCW a “Prevailing or Substantially Prevailing Party”?.889

1. Armstrong.889

2. Buckhannon .890

3. Sierra Club.891

4. Analysis .891

B. Is an Award of Litigation Costs “Appropriate”?.894

C. Conclusion.897

V…