Calling all spin doctors. Calling all spin doctors. The Sierra Club could use your help.

The hyper litigious green group is desperately trying to "spin" its defeat in the Fountain Creek lawsuit into some sort of victory, as today's story in the Pueblo Chieftain indicates. But that's hogwash. A federal judge threw the plaintiff a bone for its time and trouble, by imposing a $35,000 fine on CSU for past sewage spills, but otherwise stuffed the Sierra Club on everything else -- ruling that Colorado Springs has been taking adequate steps to upgrade its wastewater treatment system, that the state is doing an adequate job of enforcing relevant regulations, and that little of what the plaintiff's alleged, or sought in the way of "damages," had merit.

What wasn't explicitly said in the ruling, but which came through loud and clear, was this message: It's not the job of lawsuit-happy environmental groups and politically-ambitious local DAs -- Pueblo's Bill Thiebaut, who initiated the suit -- to enforce water quality rules in Fountain Creek. Those who have that responsibility are already making progress, said the federal judge, without the need for a three-ring sideshow. So go back to chasing criminals, Pueblo DA. Go back to netting butterflies, Sierra Club.

This was clearly a "win" for the city of Colorado Springs -- and a defeat for Springs-bashers downstream who want to paint this city as a bad actor in the Arkansas Valley water wars. But it didn't come without a price tag for CSU ratepayers, since even frivolous lawsuits are expensive to fight. Untold man-hours went into compiling the boxes of documents sought by the plaintiffs. Inside and outside counsel has to be paid for. Dollars were spent on lawyers that could have been spent on activities that would actually do Fountain Creek some good. The suit became a drain on the resources and energies of many people at CSU.

What did all this cost? I'll be calling CSU Monday to get an answer to that question. But we know this much: it was money wasted, to fight a frivolous and meritless federal lawsuit, all because Pueblo's DA and The Sierra Club wanted to grab a few easy headlines by posing as the defenders of Fountain Creek. The instigator, Pueblo DA Bill Thiebaut, was thrown off the case, by the way, when the federal judge ruled that he had overstepped his authority. That waste of tax dollars is something Pueblo voters will have to hold him accountable for, if they care enough.

The Sierra Club soldiered on, however -- because bringing mechanically-mindless lawsuits is what environmentalists do these days, in order to demonstrate their love for the the planet. This suit cost CSU ratepayers untold thousands of dollars, but probably cost the "club" nothing, since federal rules require that these groups be reimbursed their legal costs, whether they win or lose. It pays to sue, in other words. Then we wonder why these groups are constantly suing.

The Sierra Club, just as a reminder, is one of the reasons Colorado Springs is hard up for money. The city is forced to spend an unnecessary $1 million a year to resurface city-owned Pikes Peak Highway, as the result of a past Sierra Club lawsuit alleging that the gravel surface threatened fish species on the mountain. Whether it's truly a threat hasn't been demonstrated. It's just an allegation -- which is all green extremists need in order to make cities like Colorado Springs bend to their wishes. Are these supposed endangered fish thriving now, as a result of the expenditure? Who the hell knows? One suit down, let's move on to the next -- that's the way lawsuit-happy groups like The Sierra Club operate.

So if you're one of those who's constantly bemoaning the lack of money in the city; one of those who worry that policemen will be laid off, or parks will go brown or that the Uncle Wilber Fountain won't be turned on each summer, send a letter of complaint to the local chapter of the Sierra Club, which is costing the city $1 million a year on Pikes Peak Highway repaving, as the result on another frivolous lawsuit.