Settlement reached in former Amherst homeowner’s sewage backup lawsuit

AMHERST — The Town of Amherst and Witco Inc., the operator of local Quik-E Foods stores, agreed Monday to pay a former town homeowner $75,000 to settle a lawsuit over a 2004 sewage backup.

Amherst Town Manager Jack Hobbs said a settlement was in the town’s best interest.

“They asked for a whole lot more than what the settlement was,” Hobbs said. “If we had gone to trial and everything had run its course, all that is subject to appeal.

“This puts an end to it,” he said. “It’s been 5-1/2 years. If there had been an appeal, Lord knows how long this would have gone on.”

Carolyn Tinder sued in 2007 claiming a deficient sewage system and grease dumping at the 100 N. Main St. convenience store caused a blockage that sent thousands of gallons of raw sewage into her home in April 2004. Tinder claimed in court documents that town representatives promised to fix the system after an earlier backup in 2000, but did not.

Thirty-two people were awaiting jury selection when the settlement was announced.

Her lawyer, Louis G. Paulson, said Tinder was left with the cost of properly cleaning up the home, also in the 100 block of North Main Street. Paulson said she left the home for 1½ years out of health concerns and eventually sold it.

“It could have been remedied before. That’s the point,” Paulson said. “She is not vindictive, but she was concerned for her safety. This was her dream house.”

Town officials have agreed to write an apology letter, he said.

After four years, mediation, and on the brink of a three-day jury trial, Tinder said she accepted the settlement because of the apology.

“I lost everything that was precious to me except my children,” she said. “It would have been difficult to live that all over again.”

On April 24, 2004, she said, sewage spewed from a drain pipe in her basement, hit the ceiling and continued to flow until it filled her basement up to the second step from the bottom of the staircase. When she called the town for help, she said she was told no one was available over the weekend. Private companies wouldn’t come until the sewage stopped flowing, she said.

Because the sewage sat in the house for a day, she said, she was afraid items in the home were infected with germs.

Al Inigo, the lawyer representing the town, said Amherst did not admit responsibility. Inigo said the backup was unfortunate, but he believed the town’s response was appropriate.

Likewise, Witco President Daryl Burgess denied grease from the store was to blame for the backup.

Town Manager Jack Hobbs said a backflow valve was to have been installed in Tinder’s basement after the 2000 backup, which was caused by a construction accident and had nothing to do with any grease in the line. He said he’s not sure why the valve didn’t prevent the 2004 backup.

“Obviously, something failed,” he said.

In 2004, he said, the town paid a contractor to help Tinder clean up her basement and another contractor to check for health risks. At that point, the case was turned over to the town’s insurance agents with the Virginia Municipal League.

Inigo and Hobbs refused to disclose the town’s portion of the settlement, saying it would be shared with Witco. Hobbs said he was unsure whether the town would have to pay a deductible, but that the majority of the town’s share would be paid by insurance.

Burgess said cooking grease from the store is dumped into a recycling bin outside. Any grease from the sink should have been captured in grease traps, he said. The idea that workers were pouring chicken grease into the drain is “absolutely nuts,” he said because it would have caused the store’s drains to back up, too.

“I think what happened to Ms. Tinder’s home was awful, but it was unfortunate that we were ever brought into this,” he said. “I could have presented testimony to show we did not cause a sewer backup in her house.”

He said the decision to settle was handled by his insurance company and that he had nothing to gain from it. He said he did not know how much of the settlement his insurance company agreed to pay.