BAKERSFIELD (AP) — Los Angeles is suing to overturn Kern County’s ban on using sewage sludge as farm fertilizer.

The Bakersfield Californian said attorneys for Los Angeles filed the lawsuit in Superior Court Thursday seeking to overturn Measure E, passed by Kern County voters in 2006. Los Angeles sends treated sewage waste to use as fertilizer on a farm it owns near Bakersfield.

The attorneys say the measure violates the California Constitution by restricting trade.

A federal lawsuit over similar issues was tossed out.

Kern County attorney Mark Nations says the new lawsuit was filed in an attempt to pay the steep attorney’s fees incurred by Los Angeles in that lawsuit.

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