CHARLESTON – A Charleston man is suing West Virginia-American Water after he claims it failed to fix a water leak that caused damage to his property.
Sometime prior to Jan. 20, 2014, a leak developed in a water line owned, operated and maintained by the defendant which runs near the property owned by Leonard Gore, according to a complaint filed April 9 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Gore claims he discovered the property damage to both the home and land and reported the problem to the defendant, however, no action was taken until further damage had occurred.
As a result of the damage, the foundation, retaining wall, real estate, dwelling and property were all damaged, according to the suit.
Gore claims the leak caused excessive saturation of the soil and ground under the property that lead to ground slippage and structural damage to the real and personal property.
The plaintiff also sustained the costs of remediation to return the real property to its original condition and lost value of the property, according to the suit.
Gore claims the defendant had a duty to keep its water line in a proper state of repair, to promptly and properly remedy any defects in the line and to protect Gore's property against damage and/or to remediate the same and compensate him for his damages.
Gore is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. He is being represented by Clayton G. Anderson of the Masters Law Firm LC.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 15-C-696
