In response, the federal government reinitiated its paper shuffle of a decade earlier by letting contracts, in late 2005 and early 2006, to "prepare" for "site inspections" of the Cannon property. Next, it claimed that, if funds were available, it would conduct "inspection activities" at the Cannon property. Then, alleging that it was engaged in an "ongoing cleanup action" that deprived the court of jurisdiction, the United States moved to dismiss the lawsuit. Weeks before oral arguments, it said it had found $700,000 to spend on the Cannon property.
Last month, the Utah federal district court dismissed the Cannons' lawsuit, deferring to the federal government's interpretation of the Superfund statute, which views its nonexistent cleanup efforts as sufficient to constitute "removal or remedial action" that deprives citizens of their access to federal court. That the federal government has done nothing for more than 60 years was irrelevant, held the court. The dismissal was "without prejudice," however, and, if the United States abandons its "action" and the Cannons sue again, the court told federal lawyers they do not want to appear before him. Those lawyers won't; they will be long gone and the Cannon representatives could well be Jesse Fox Cannon’s great grandchildren!