Homeowners lose water quality lawsuit
A jury ruled Friday that developers and a contractor never misled buyers who purchased homes near Deer Park that drew well water so acidic it leached copper from the plumbing if left untreated.
The question put to the eight-man, four-woman jury was limited solely to whether the developers, Matthew Smith and Jim Markley, lied about the source of the water. Health problems, including sore stomachs and open sores on a little girl, were prohibited from being introduced as evidence.
“There have been contentious claims about water quantity and quality that have been vigorously argued by both parties and were not part of this trial because the court has found the (health) claims lacked sufficient merit to be entertained by a jury,” said attorney Bob Sestero, who represented Smith and Markley. “We are pleased with the outcome.”
Three couples sued the developers and builder Condron Construction for homes that they purchased a decade ago at Denison Estates, a 27-lot subdivision located two miles south of Deer Park. Only after purchasing the homes did the couples realize the water was unsafe to drink, they argued in a three-week trial that took four years to get to court.
Two of the couples, Mathew and Monica Ring and Chrisie and Bryce Robinette, went bankrupt after they moved out of their homes over health concerns and could not sell the homes nearly for what they had paid.
The three homes ranged in price from just under $100,000 to about $117,000 at the time. They are now being marketed, according to court testimony, at about $219,000.
The other plaintiffs, Denny and Carey Peltier, said they took an overall loss to sell their dream home, and now they call a $3,500 double-wide trailer their retirement home.
“I’m not surprised. (The lawyers) took so much away, we had nothing left to fight with,” Carey Peltier said of the rulings to limit the evidence about health problems.
“When you have to use bottled water to bathe your kids …,” she said before falling silent. “I guess the voice of big business apparently is louder than the voice of the consumer.”
The building permits filed by Condron Construction listed the wrong water source. But Condron’s attorney, Matthew Sanger, successfully argued that none of the couples had looked at the building permit prior to buying their homes.
“I think it was a correct verdict. My client is pleased,” Sanger said. “I think the jury did a great job in deciding the law that was given to them.”
Sestero, Sanger and Marcia Mead filed so many motions and cross motions in the case that Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque had three tall stacks of files behind his chair to document them.
Bryce Robinette said one of the jurors cried and told him that the entire panel wanted to vote for them, but they were not allowed to consider water quality or health issues because they didn’t come out in the trial.
“They knew there was so much more to it than they were allowed to hear. It showed us that we have a legitimate argument,” Robinette said. “Through lawyer jargon, our case got whittled down to this little bit of nothing.”
None of the jurors wanted to discuss the case with a reporter.
Sestero pointed out that his clients received approval from the Spokane County Regional Health District to build a water system under a classification that did not require them to test the water’s acidity.
Most of the homeowners currently living at Denison Estates have purchased $600 water filters from the developers to treat the acidic water, which makes the water “perfectly safe,” Sestero said.
“Society and legislators set the bar” as to water quality requirements, he said. “We satisfied the requirements and continue to do so.”
Mead acknowledged that jury members followed the instructions given to them. She said her clients plan to appeal the case.
“These are really brave, tough clients,” Mead said. “They have been through hell, and they are going to go through more hell.”