A federal judge heard arguments Friday in a lawsuit that sought essentially to roll Central Alabama Water operations back to the way they were before the state restructured the former Birmingham Water Works almost one year ago.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco denied a request to issue a temporary restraining order demanding that a variety of moves be undone, from rehiring fired employees to reinstating the project to shore up Lake Purdy Dam. However, she deferred ruling on the merits of the case, which seeks to undo the actions long term. She gave parties in the case two weeks to file more papers on several questions and set another hearing for May 28.

The arguments came in a case filed by two former BWWB members, William Muhammad and Brenda Lewis, who contend the actions taken by the new board of directors are creating a “severe public health crisis.” It’ is among multiple lawsuits that have been filed in state and federal court over the restructuring of the board.

Earlier this week, a judge said he intended to lift his own order that would have forced CAW to resume adding fluoride to the water in a case filed by the city of Birmingham, according to media reports. The judge ruled that CAW had failed to notify the state health officer of its plans to discontinue adding fluoride to the water 90 days in advance, as required by state law. But the judge said there was no practical way to make CAW resume fluoridation throughout the system before the 90-day notice period has expired.

The federal lawsuit argued Friday alleges that the state law passed last year revamping the BWW is unconstitutional because it effectively seized control from Birmingham stakeholders without compensation or due process.

At the hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel Calvin B. Grigsby argued the law amounts to a politically motivated takeover disguised as reform, lacking constitutional justification and causing immediate and irreparable harm, thus necessitating immediate injunctive relief.

“It’s really just this absolutely fundamental violation of constitutional rights that the Legislature came in and changed the board,” he said.

Representatives for CAW defended the law and argued the utility would not be able to meaningfully redress the alleged harms even if the judge were to grant an injunction.

Manasco ruled on several procedural matters Friday, denying CAW’s request to transfer the case to another court and granting a request to coordinate the case with one filed by the city in federal court in Montgomery, though she stopped short of consolidating the two cases.

Class-Action Suit Filed in State Court

Another similar lawsuit alleging extreme mismanagement was filed in state court this week by Jim Hicks, a Mountain Brook resident and CAW customer. The class action suit asks the judge to appoint a receiver to run the water board and seeks damages on behalf of about 770,000 ratepayers in Jefferson, Shelby, Blount, St. Clair and Walker counties.

It also cites mass-firings, the discontinuance of fluoridation, environmental regulatory noncompliance, elimination of in-person payment options, credit downgrades and patterns of mismanagement.

The complaint also asserts that the utility has precipitated an immediate public safety risk by halting a Lake Purdy Dam rehabilitation project mid-construction. The Lake Purdy reservoir, in southeastern Jefferson County and northern Shelby County, is a major supplier of water in the Birmingham area, and its failure could send a wave stream cascading 40 miles downstream.

CAW does not comment on pending legislation, according to a spokesman.