The owner of a gravel operation on Saline Creek in eastern Oklahoma just lost another court case.
David Eastman, owner of Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC has been ordered to pay more than $193,000 in attorney’s fees and expert costs to the man who sued him in 2011 under the Clean Water Act.
Tulsa U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell has ruled in support of David Benham, the land owner who sued Eastman and his business in order to protect the Saline Creek. The judge ordered Eastman to pay $193,270.51 to Benham, an Edmond resident and former owner of the Oklahoma City “Night Trips” gentleman clubs. He grew up along the creek and his mother lives nearby.
Eastman lost his case at the Denver federal appeals court and last year the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take his case. The lawsuit was initiated by Benham who contends the gravel operation is harming the creek and the environment. He has purchased more land along the creek and reportedly owns nearly a mile stretch of land.
