Nearby residents accept out-of-court agreement

By Joe Kelly

The last of the major lawsuits stemming from the 2022 gas spill in Norfolk has been settled out of court.

The legal action was brought by about 20 individuals, mainly homeowners and renters, including several children. Most are clustered in the area around Route 44 and Beacon Lane where a tanker truck overturned early on the morning of Nov. 5, 2022 spilling 8,200 gallons of gasoline, one of the largest incidents of its kind in the state of Connecticut.

The suit alleging negligence as well as negative health and environmental impacts was filed against the gas supplier, East River Energy of Guilford, along with its trucking arm, Soundview Transportation and Ryder Truck Rental, the owner of the truck that overturned. Also cited were the 27-year-old driver of the truck, Lamont Barham, of Bridgeport and the insurer, Federated Service Insurance Company of Minnesota. Filed 10 months after the crash in September 2023 in Superior Court in Stamford, the case was scheduled to get started this month with jury selection. The settlement effectively ends all legal action, according to Anthony Scricca of BBB Attorneys of Stratford, the firm which brought the case.

The settlement follows several other out-of-court agreements reached with both the state and the town as well as other homeowners along Pettibone Lane, Maple Avenue and Shepard Road. Gas from the truck flowed through streams and soil in those areas requiring extensive remediation to remove contaminated groundwater and impacted earth.

The State of Connecticut earlier negotiated a $350,000 settlement with Soundview. The trucking company remains responsible for ongoing environmental monitoring as well as the full cost of the cleanup.

The Town of Norfolk received just over $900,000. The town submitted claims to cover legal costs, to replace equipment used during the emergency response and also to get reimbursement for the many hours spent by emergency response workers and town hall staff. Some $400,000 of the town’s settlement will go towards the purchase of a new dump truck and support the eventual purchase of a new firetruck.

Terms of the latest settlement were not disclosed but easily totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars and likely well over a million. The BBB attorneys received a third of the settlement as well as over $100,000 in expenses. Courtney Toomey was a party to the suit. At the time of the crash, she lived in the house at 97 Greenwoods Road East and immediately fled with her husband and four children. Now resettled in Winsted, Toomey said the experience was traumatic for her and her family. “I’m not sure what an adequate settlement is,” she said. “I’ve never been through anything like this.”

Clint Webb lived next door at 93 Greenwoods Road East with his wife Judith Anderson and has since relocated to Florida. They sold their six-bedroom home in April for well under the appraisal price, hoping to recoup some of the lost value through the lawsuit. They came up short. “The settlement would have been great if we didn’t have to give up so much in legal fees,” Webb said.