CHARLESTON — A Charleston couple wants the city of Charleston to stop the sulfur-like smell that has invaded their neighborhood from a nearby landfill for several years.
Larry D. Green and Ann S. Green filed the lawsuit against Charleston, Landfill Services of Charleston and Tallarico Energy alleging that they have maintained an odor log since October 2018 and have since then experienced the sulfur-like smells more than half the time, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Michael Callaghan with Neely & Callaghan, who is representing the Greens, said the couple wants the defendants to do the right thing.
“Larry and Ann Green simply ask that Charleston, Waste Management and Tallarico Energy be good neighbors," Callaghan said to The West Virginia Record. "The Greens feel that this situation should never have come to the point of litigation."
Callaghan said the couple has spent a long time trying to get the issue resolved.
"However, after years of trying to resolve the problems, even with the assistance of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, nothing has been done," Callaghan said. "While unfortunate, the Greens were left with the only alternative of asking a court to make Charleston, Waste Management and Tallarico Energy be good neighbors and stop polluting the air."
Since 2017, the Greens have met with representatives of the defendants who have admitted the odors were coming from the nearby landfill and even after the situation was reported to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, which sent a notice of violation to both the city and the landfill, the couple has continued to deal with the issue.
The defendants have been negligent in failing to address the risk of contaminants being released into the environment and failing to appropriately prevent and address the contaminants in the air, according to the suit.
The Greens are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. They are represented by Callaghan and Charles W. Neely of Neely & Callaghan in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 21-C-326
