CHARLESTON – Kelly Paving has been dismissed from the antitrust lawsuit filed by the City of Charleston alleging it and other asphalt and paving companies created a monopoly on the industry in West Virginia.
Michael Farrell, who represents Kelly, filed the motion to dismiss Kelly from the Charleston lawsuit, as well as in similar lawsuits filed by the Cities of Huntington, Beckley and Bluefield and the Kanawha County Commission.
Farrell argued that Kelly should be dismissed because it was never contracted to do asphalt projects in Charleston.
Because of the physical properties of asphalt, which is transported to project sites in liquid form, it would have been impossible for Kelly to have done projects in Charleston and the other cities, as they are beyond the range of the trucks hired to carry the materials.
Kelly’s business is mostly limited to the northern part of West Virginia. It has asphalt plants in St. Marys, Parkersburg, Benwood and Weirton.
Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman approved Farrell’s motion to dismiss.
The only complaint Kelly answered without a motion to dismiss was the lawsuit filed by the City of Parkersburg.
