Couple sues Department of Transportation for contamination

WAYNE -- A Huntington couple is suing the state Department of Transportation for contaminating their property with petroleum distillates.

Enviroprobe Integrated Solutions, Inc. was also named as a defendant in the suit.

In April or May 2010, Enviroprobe contact Gary Lee Dick and Pamela S. Dick, seeking permission to take soil and ground water samples from the northeastern corner of their property in order to check for contaminants cause by a leakage from the Department of Transportation's underground storage tanks, according to a complaint filed July 6 in Wayne Circuit Court.

The couple claims Enviroprobe indicated they had found contaminants on the property and requested to drill one well in order to monitor the contamination.

Without permission, Enviroprobe came onto the plaintiffs' property and drilled three wells instead of one on the property, according to the suit.

The couple claims their property is not contaminated by petroleum distillates that leaked from the tanks and there are three monitoring wells placed on their property without their permission.

The couple is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. They are being represented by R.R. Fredeking II.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Darrell M. Pratt.

Wayne Circuit Court case number: 11-C-126