CHESAPEAKE
Dominion Virginia Power is asking a Chesapeake judge to dismiss the $1 billion lawsuit brought by residents living near Battlefield Golf Club, a site built on fly ash.
Lawyers for the company say it only provided fly ash and should not be responsible for its later use as ground fill to sculpt a new golf course. The 45-page motion, filed this month in Circuit Court, claims that the 388 residents in the suit failed to show specific injuries caused by the material. Dominion lawyers also say in the motion that fear of injury is not grounds for a lawsuit.
If a Circuit Court judge refuses to toss the suit, Dominion wants it moved to a new court, away from the "persistent" and "inflammatory local media coverage," according to a separate motion.
"It must be presumed that the jury pool and any trial proceedings in this jurisdiction would be tainted," Dominion lawyers argued.
Nearly 400 people living near Battlefield Golf Club sued Dominion Virginia Power in March, seeking damages and the removal of 1.5 million tons of fly ash from the site. Residents also want the site and groundwater cleaned. Among several charges, they accuse the energy company of conspiracy, fraud and creating a public nuisance.
Ted Yoakam, attorney for the residents, declined to comment Friday.
Fly ash is the residue left from coal burned in power generators. It contains heavy metals that can pose an environmental risk through air and water.
Residents in the rural community draw their water from ground wells. Dominion has offered to pay up to $6 million to expand the city's water system to the neighborhood.
In the motion, Dominion Virginia Power says the plaintiffs' allegations do not meet several legal standards necessary to continue the suit.
The motion said the suit did not show specific injuries or damages to each of the residents. It also points to scant proof that businesses in the area have been adversely affected. Some residents, it said, "may not have suffered any injuries at all."
Dominion argues that any alleged injuries suffered by residents happened after Dominion had turned over the fly ash to golf course developers. The project was approved by the city of Chesapeake and met the requirements of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality before it opened as a golf course in 2007.
"Dominion did not own or control the coal ash because it had been supplied to the golf course's developers," the motion reads. "Entities other than Dominion modified, transported, placed and sculpted the coal ash after it left Dominion's control."
Dominion spokesman Jim Norvelle declined to comment.
Louis Hansen, (757) 222-5221, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com
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Fly Ash
Well, let's see. The residents of that area did not ask for a golf course (toxic waste dump) to be built beside them. Most of these residents have been there longer than the "golf course" so having a "realtor" warn them of any dangers was NOT an option. I, for one, would not drink any water that could possibly be contaminated and would certainly not even consider buying a house in that area. So what do you think that does to their home values? Probably dropped to ZERO. It sounds to me like Dominion is covering up and should be held responsible and if "WE" end up paying for it, OH WELL, we used the electricity that created the fly ash. If they would have disposed of it properly, we would have paid for that, too.
megaman
If water is the problem, Dominion has already agreed to pay for city water.
Next problem--"do you realize the health hazards these families are facing in the future" no I guess I don't what are they. All of us are facing health problems in the future, no one lives for every.
OK next part, why doesn't the suit include the city, the state and even the feds, all of them issued permits and signed off on the project. Biggest of all the developers and the builders and the designers and the real estate company that sold it to you? Once again we are back to the who has the deepest pockets.
So stop crying and let the city water be run into your section, OH no too greedy you want something for nothing. Should have done better research before buying.
Conert
How about visiting the affected area, and have a drink of water. No large corporation like Dominion Power gives you something free. The only reason they gave this stuff for free, is to save on disposal fees. You say these people are greedy, do you realize the health hazards these families are facing in the future. I bet you would not drink a glass of water if you visited one of the homes in that area. Corporations have been killing human beings for years over nonsense like this, why in the world shouldn't these people be compensated for the lack of human health concerns exhibited by Dominion and the City of Chesapeake. If you were in this situation, you'd just give ole Dominion Power a pass right. SURE!
If it were such a health hazard...
...wouldn't it be declared a disaster site by the EPA and the residents ordered to abandon their property? What this is (in my opinion) is a law firm trying to create for themselves a source of revenue (kind of like ambulance chasers), not to "help" these residents. This lawsuit would clean the fly ash and water system, fatten the wallets of the lawyers and pay off the houses of these homeowners. What damages (health or otherwise) have been observed to justify this lawsuit? You realize that this is (before lawyers fees) $2.5 million per residence don't you? These people would be living there mortgage free for the rest of their lives when they haven't proven one health problem directly related to fly ash. I feel for them but not to the tune of $1 billion dollars...plus DVP would have to recoup that money from somewhere...it's customers that's where.
I won't drink the Kool-Aid
I'll gladly drink the water from this area. No Problem at all. But what I refuse to drink is the Kool-Aid served up by those who want to blame all society’s ills on corporations and capitalism.
Without Dominion, thousands would be jobless, the local economy would quickly collapse; not to mention we would all be walking around in the dark.
I for one am thankful that I can simply flip a switch and light my home, that respirators in hospitals are keeping patients alive, that streetlights and stoplights are preventing accidents on our streets, and that Dominion is there in the background providing the power for all this despite every Tom Dick and Harry wanting to sue them into oblivion.
Drink away
I may be thankful for having lights and power, but if that company is knowingly getting rid of poisonous materials and not warning people about how dangerous it is, then I can't at all abide by them. All the electric power in the world can't bring poisoned people back to life. If you'd ever seen what arsenic can do to the human body over long term, you might think differently. Fly ash is a poisonous material and Dominion has known this for decades. They should never have allowed it to be used in this manner. They are just as guilty as the city of Chesapeake and the contractors that built the golf course and should be held accountable.
Oh, and I'll get you that glass. After a few years of drinking that water and a few visits with your doctor, let's see what kind of a tune you sing.
What a bunch of crap
This is the most insane thing, this suit is about GREED on the part of the residents and their attorney. The suit is aimed at the party with the biggest bank account, as for potential health problems give me a break. I think the CEO of DVP MAY hit me with his car someday, so I'm going to sue him for injury / damage, makes as much sense.
Who is responsible?
You all can't imagine the processes these plans had to go through in order to gain approval for construction. I'm sure it took years to get done. In the process, as mentioned DEQ, Federal Agencies, Game and Wildlife, etc, City of Chesapeake Planning Commission, City of Chesapeake Zoning, City of Chesapeake Public Works, on and on....reviewed these plans for approval. So, DVP is not entirely culpable for what has happened here.
As this article already mentions, DVP is deflecting the blame to the developers who in turn are going to deflect it to the contractor. They will all say that "he" acted negligently. He files for bankruptcy and then re-opens shop under a different business name. That's how business works. Torts are a civil trespass, not criminal. It would be extremely hard for anyone to prove that there was a criminal wrong doing unless people using the water just start dying off within the next couple of months.
That's how business works. People are no longer sued. Business entities are sued, corps, LLC's etc. The people responsible will walk and unfortunately the City of Chesapeake who approved the plans, State DEQ who approved the plans and Federal agenci
Surry County
Please, people effected by this should get together and tell the fine residents of Dendron, in Surry County Va. what this has done. ODEC is planning on putting a coal burning power plant in that community. The dump site for fly ash will be on the same property which also borders the Blackwater River. People of Surry county for the most part have ground water wells. This will surely effect their health in the future. Not to mention the condemned property that will be taken by eminent domain for tax assesment only, to put a railway from rt.460 and cooling water pipes to the James River. I dont know about you, but I would hate to have trains going through my back yard 24/7. Please explain this to the people with "Cypress Creek Yes" signs on their property. Even the wording is a joke.......come on now....that sounds much better than "coal burning plant".....unbelievable!
Not to mention...
...it was there for the golf course and not residential purposes. The city should have been the ones to have raised red flags when it was rezoned. This is another reason why nuclear power plants should be the norm and not the exception for generating electricity.
YOU OVERPAID FOR THAT FLY-ASH SUIT
$1 billion seems excessive for a fly-ash suit. I rented one for my prom for half that much. It fit fine and my date suffered no long term side effects. Months later she told me she was sick and tired, but I don't think that had anything to do with the suit or my fly-ash Speedos.
Tort Reform Needed
If the losers always had to pay the lawyers’ fees of the winners, I wonder how many of these types of lawsuits would just never happen.
To me, Dominion seems to be making some pretty good points in this article as to what are the specific damages or injuries. And is Dominion responsible for building the golf course with fly ash or the developer?
And was this project not approved by officials? I would find it really hard to believe that this huge golf course containing 1.5 million tons of fly ash was built by Dominion under the cloak of darkness and in deep secrecy and with no permits or impact studies.
The $6 million offered by Dominion to expand the city’s water system into this area sounds to me like a pretty generous offer and a quick and sensible solution. I'd jump on it.
Dominion's dodge
Dominion knew the poisonous nature of the fly ash. They didn't make certain it was disposed of properly. The company should have told the city of Chesapeake it was a bad and dangerous idea to use fly ash in this manner, but they didn't. This does not alleviate the city's responsibility in the issue or the hauler's either: they should have checked on the nature of the materials they were using and hauling. All should be held responsible for their part in creating this mess.
As for Dominion's claim that none of the residents have shown signs of illness, such illnesses do not appear overnight but take time to show up. If there are low doses of such poisons in water, the damaging affects can take years to appear. For the good, the dangers have been discovered before anyone has taken seriously ill so hopefully that can be prevented.
Maybe they have a point!
The project was approved by the city of Chesapeake and met the requirements of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality before it opened as a golf course in 2007.
Looks to me like the proverbial scapegoat is being sought out here. Seems like the City and the State messed up in this one.
(29) No matter what, DOM won't pay
Unfortunately, it is all of us who will have to pay. Does anyone think that DOM will lose money in a lawsuit? They will simply recoup the money via increased rates and call it the increased cost of fuel or for just having a connection.
Complex Problem
This stuff (fly ash) has been tried in everything from concrete to maybe even drywall as an admix or filler so that the various producers can reduce production costs and make more money. It has failed in every application and many manufacturers have already suffered losses from lawsuits related to this crap. My personal opinion is that it is useless and environmentally harmful industrial waste resulting in our ruining the environment. (refer to Al Gore for references, he's right)
I think that;
If there have been no health issues I don't see what would warrant such a suit. It appears that Dominion Power is doing everything within it's power to avoid posing such threats by offering to provide them with city water. Sounds like they will benefit from it in the long run and the cities tax dollars would be saved for other uses. Otherwise, the developer that made the golf course should be the one responsible for medical bills or anything. Of course it probably does add value to your house. City water may too; I don't know. What I do know is with city water they don't have to worry about expensive gizmo's to make the water drinkable....or even usable without it turnin everything brown. Good Lord people....find somethin' real to do to make money. It's not Dominion's fault....just cause they're the big guy doesn't mean they always look like the bad guy :-)