FISHKILL, N.Y. -- A judge has ordered the owners of a Gulf station in Fishkill, N.Y., to pay a Hopewell Junction, N.Y., family about $150,000 in damages for a gasoline spill that contaminated the family's water supply with methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) eight years ago, reported The Poughkeepsie Journal.
State Supreme Court Judge Christine Sproat ruled that the well contamination had diminished the value of the home and 6.5 acres owned by Margaret Conklin and her husband, Harold Stewart, the report said.
MTBE contaminated wells supplying water to the Conklin-Stewart property, [image-nocss] about nine other homes and a small shopping center called Archway Plaza, when gasoline leaked out of an underground storage tank (UST) at the Gulf station in 2000, according to the report.
The owner of the station, Route 52 Property LLC, installed carbon filtration systems for the wells of the affected properties, said the report, but Conklin testified she feared the filters did not always work properly.
Sproat ruled the MTBE contamination diminished the value of the property by one-fourth of its assessed value, or about $140,000. The judge also ordered the Gulf station owner to reimburse the family for all of the bottled water purchased since 2001, about $11,000. The Gulf station owner was also ordered to pay the Conklin-Stewart family's attorneys' fees.
"I know having clean drinking water is an important and emotional issue," Sproat said Tuesday afternoon in her oral decision from the bench, according to the newspaper. "The plaintiffs have had clean drinking water since they started purchasing it for themselves. There was a period of time, however, when they were drinking contaminated water, water contaminated with MTBE without their knowledge."
Homeowners whose wells were contaminated could get their water from a new municipal system by early next year, Mark Day, an engineer hired by the gas station's owner also testified. Anthony Defazio, the attorney representing the Gulf station owner, said his client was offering to foot the bill to hook the homeowners up to the new system.
Day told Sproat he had spoken to Town of East Fishkill officials last month and had learned plans were in place to build a small municipal water system to serve a nearby neighborhood called Shenandoah. He said he believed it was feasible to add the Conklin-Stewart home and the others affected by the spill to the Shenandoah system."Since the town is forming a district nearby, they could be a tenant of that district," Day testified.
He estimated it would cost the gas station owners about $100,000 to run a connecting line from the water system to the Conklin home.
Under cross-examination by Conklin and Stewart's attorney, Andrew Bersin, Day said the plan to hook up the affected homeowners to the new water system would require approvals by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Transportation and the county Board of Health. The new water lines would replace carbon filtration systems, which were installed in the wells of the affected homes and businesses shortly after the gasoline spill was discovered. Conklin and Stewart testified Tuesday they believed the filters were not being adequately maintained.
Sproat noted the station owner's offer to hook the homeowners up to the new water system "is not something immediately available" to Conklin and Stewart.
MTBE was banned in New York as a gasoline additive in 2004 after state environmental officials determined it was suspected carcinogen, said the report.
In his summation, the family's lawyer, Andrew Bersin, said the issues raised at the trial pertained to residents other than his clients.
Defazio contended the Conklin family had failed to offer any evidence showing their property had lost any significant value as a result of the contamination. "There's no question the well has been contaminated," he said, according to the paper. "But there is no evidence the carbon filtration system has ever failed, and there has been no proof there has been any damage to the property."
Defazio said he intended to appeal Sproat's decision, the Poughkeepsie Journal added.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.