CHARLESTON – A couple who said their complaints of a foul stench fell on deaf ears sued St. Albans Municipal Utility Commission after their home was flooded with raw sewage.
David and Deltha Shamblen filed their complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court.
The Shamblens first noticed a strong odor coming from the hill behind their home in July 2017, but the utility did not act upon their concerns, the lawsuit said. The utility again ignored them on July 25, when they complained again, the lawsuit said.
Five days later, they found raw sewage saturating the hill. They called the utility the next day, but the utility still did nothing, the lawsuit said. The couple told the utility they would call the Health Department on Aug. 4, and that day the utility sent an investigator, the lawsuit said.
The utility flushed the sewage line, but that sent sewage flooding the Shamblens' home and crawlspace, the lawsuit said. They told the utility, but it refused to stop flushing the line, the lawsuit said, and their home sustained further damage. They demanded the utility pay for and fix the damage, but it did little, the lawsuit said. In fact, the utilities' workers left gloves, rags and other soiled materials behind on the property, the lawsuit said.
The couple accused the utility of trespass, conversion, nuisance and negligence.
The couple is seeking all reasonable sums due, attorney fees and court costs. The plaintiff is represented by J. Tanner James of JTJ Law PLLC in Barboursville.
The case has been assigned to Judge Jennifer Bailey.
Kanawha Circuit Court case No. 19-C-791
