Judge issues order to begin rescuing Iowa cemetery

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Webster County judge has issued an order to begin the process of moving some graves away from a ravine at a cemetery near Lehigh.

Local contractors have volunteered to help rescue the graves at Oak Grove Cemetery. However, a court order was needed before any work can be done.

Assistant County Attorney Cori Kuhn Coleman says a judge on Wednesday issued an order for the state to issue permits to remove the remains and rebury them.

She says this is not an order allowing the work to begin, but it begins the process. Kuhn Coleman says the Iowa Department of Public Health that will issue the permits for disinterment and reburial.

Several headstones and bones have tumbled into the expanding ravine because of erosion.