Law Offices of Brian Cunha & Associates Settles Environmental Liability Case for $984,000.00 for release of gasoline and dry cleaning waste products

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The plaintiff, owner of a 4.5 acre parcel of land located in Warwick, RI, at the corner of Airport Road and Warwick Avenue (formerly the site of "Copperfields," a well known bar/restaurant in the area), decided to sell the property and retire in 2007.  He listed the property for sale and had a potential buyer who, as part of his due diligence, retained an environmental consultant/engineer to assess the property for any environmental contamination that may be present.  Upon completion of the assessment, the engineer reported that the property and groundwater was contaminated at the western end of the property that abutted a gasoline station, by gasoline byproducts and at the easterly end of the property that abutted a dry cleaning business, by dry cleaning byproducts.  The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) was notified and investigated the report.

As a result of the contamination, the plaintiff retained The Law Offices of Brian Cunha & Associates to represent him against the gasoline station and the dry cleaners, both of whom denied that the contamination came from their respective businesses.  They both claimed that numerous other businesses that had operated for generations at that same location caused the contamination and not their companies.  Attorney Brian Cunha retained hydrogeologists and environmental experts who were able to demonstrate through groundwater flow, geology of the region and historical data, that the contamination was caused by a leakage of product at the two locations. That same leakage was able to get into the groundwater and then flow onto the plaintiff's property.  The gasoline station claimed it had been ordered by the DEM to remediate the portion of the plaintiff's property that the plaintiff claimed was impacted and therefore because they had cleaned up the property the plaintiff had not been damaged.  The dry cleaner claimed that the cleanup was nominal and therefore would not agree to pay any damages. 

Attorney Brian Cunha retained an economist, a realtor and a commercial real estate appraiser to evaluate the plaintiff's damages.  One week before trial the gasoline station agreed to pay the plaintiff $400,000.00 and also agreed to complete the cleanup of the gasoline by products.  The owner of the dry cleaner agreed to transfer title of his land and building valued at $584,000.00 to the plaintiff, and the case was settled.

The Law Offices of Brian Cunha & Associates specializes in environmental liability cases as well as personal injury and workers' compensation cases and represents clients from all over New England including Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island with three convenient offices located in East Providence, Rhode Island, Fall River and New Bedford, Massachusetts. 

For more information on this Environmental Liability Settlement Case contact Attorney Brian R. Cunha at The Law Offices of Brian Cunha & Associates, (508) 675-9500.  Email address: [email protected]  

SOURCE The Law Offices of Brian Cunha & Associates