| In the
early morning hours of July 8, 2001, a rainstorm of unprecedented fury
swept over the southern portion of West Virginia, dumping in excess of
six inches of rain over the region in a little less than eight hours.
The widescale flooding that came in the wake of this storm was intense
and destructive.
The events of July 8,
2001 gave rise to this litigation, wherein a consolidated group of
4000+ Plaintiffs - represented by several lawfirms - sued 200+
Defendant landowners; coal, oil and gas operators; mining operators;
and other parties whose activities are alleged to have exacerbated the
damages caused as a result of this storm.
The claims spread
across six (6) watershed areas, but a three-judge panel overseeing the
litigation has broken the trial into Phases based upon geography
(watershed) and questions of causation (Phase I), liability and damages
(possible Phase II and III).
The questions to be answered by the jury in
the Phase I trial (Oceana and Mullens subwatersheds) currently taking
place in Raleigh
County
are limited to:
1.
Whether
each defendant's operations caused
a material increase in the rate of surface water runoff
that left that area during the July 8, 2001 storrm compared to the
amount of runoff that would have happened anyway during the flooding;
2.
Whether
the water from the defendant companies' operations caused a material increase in streams
overflowing their banks; and
3.
Regardless
of the findings in question 1 and 2, above, whether the defendants used their
property in a reasonable manner.
Below are articles regarding the ongoing flood litigation:
|
2/17/2006 -