Local Water and Sewer Authority pays Plaintiff $900,000 to Settle Federal Environmental and Takings Claims

ATLANTA – November 17, 2008 – A Federal District Court entered a Consent Decree against the Douglasville – Douglas County Water & Sewer Authority ("DDCWSA") on September 30, 2008, for its violations of Federal pollution control laws and taking the property of the Plaintiff Noble Builders, Inc. Noble Builders brought the lawsuit in 2004 after its property, a newly constructed residential subdivision, was flooded with contaminated water as a result of the failure of DDCWSA to line a sixty-two (62) million gallon holding pond at its Bear Creek Water Treatment Plant in 2003. According to Darren Lodge, the principal of Noble Builders, the construction of the unlined holding pond uphill from the subdivision turned the lots into a marshy swampland. Water samples collected by an engineer hired by Noble Builders showing high levels of aluminum, a byproduct of DDCWSA's water treatment process, confirmed that DDCWSA caused the flooding. DDCWSA agreed to pay Noble Builders $900,000 after nearly four years of litigation costing DDCWSA $1,050,000.00 in legal defense fees and after Noble offered to settle in 2004 for roughly half of the DDCWSA final offer.

In addition to the purchase of the Plaintiff's property and reimbursement of its attorney's fees, the Consent Decree also requires DDCWSA to take corrective action in response to Noble Builders' allegations of violations of the Federal Clean Water Act. DDCWSA agreed to comply with its permits and state regulations, install a monitoring device on its discharge, properly sample and monitor its pollutant discharges, and to dispose of the alum sludge in compliance with its permit. "We are pleased with the final outcome, both financially for Noble Builders but also for the positive impact to Douglas County and the environment brought about by the change in WSA's operations at the facility," said Noble Builders' lawyer Martin A. Shelton, the head of the environmental practice group at the Atlanta firm Schulten, Ward & Turner, LLP. The settlement brings bittersweet relief to Darren Lodge, "I take solace in the fact that WSA finally took responsibility for its actions – for damaging my property and my business." Mr. Lodge's business suffered tremendously as a result of the lengthy lawsuit and being forced to finance the cost of holding the houses it could not sell over five years.

About Schulten Ward & Turner
Schulten Ward & Turner, LLP, is an Atlanta-based multi-service law firm formed in 1986. It is comprised of experienced attorneys who provide a wide array of legal services from commercial transactions to litigation in state and federal courts. For information about services and practice areas, visit www.swtlaw.com.

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