U.S.-Canada border wall deal rejected

BLAINE, Wash., March 11 (UPI) -- An attempt to settle a long-running legal battle over a retaining wall built by homeowners along the U.S.-Canadian border has been rejected, observers say.

A ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman to reject a motion to settle the suit means Herbert and Shirley-Ann Leu, of Blaine, Wash., still don't know if their wall will be allowed to stand amidst a tangle of legal issues, The Bellingham (Wash.) Herald reported.

The Leus said they built the 4-foot-high retaining wall in 2007 to prevent their back yard from eroding into a ditch that runs along the border but their wall was ordered removed by U.S. Boundary Commissioner Dennis Schornack, the newspaper said. His authority was challenged by Pacific Legal Foundation in a legal filing.

The Bush administration fired Schornack in July 2007 because he refused to agree to a settlement that would have allowed the Leus to keep the wall and now Schornack has become a third party in the suit in a bid to prove the White House had no right to fire him, the Herald reported