Builder faulted over runoff
Jury awards $2.35 million

May 12, 2005
Stacy Shelton - Staff
Metro Section, www.AJC.com

A Cobb County jury this week slapped a builder with what may be the largest judgment in a storm water pollution case in Georgia history.

Twelve jurors directed builder D.R. Horton-Torrey Inc. to pay two schoolteachers $2.35 million for piping dirty runoff into their yards for one year during construction of 67 homes in Legacy Park in Kennesaw. The lawsuit was filed in 1999.

"We proved them to be wrong, and we're making them do the right thing now," said Nina Cole, 57, a teacher at East Cobb Middle School. "I want them to learn a lesson from this."

Cole had lived on her three-acre "slice of heaven" for 15 years before the homebuilder constructed a drainage pond that emptied into her back yard and contaminated the well she shared with her friend and co-plaintiff Pattie Rouse.

Rouse, 45, acquired land from Cole to build her own house. She's a special education teacher with students in a dozen Cherokee County schools.

When it rained, the women said, dirt-colored water flowed from their faucets.

"We couldn't take a bath. We couldn't drink the water for three to five days after a heavy rain," Rouse said.

"They violated our property rights. They dumped this water on us, and they didn't even ask."
Jurors returned the large judgement against the builder at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The verdict included $310,000 in attorney's fees and $42,500 to compensate their expenses, such as hooking up to the county water supply.

The jury awarded $2 million in punitive damages, taking essentially all of Horton-Torrey's estimated profit on the project.

In a written statement, Anthony W. Oxley III, vice president of D.R. Horton in Atlanta, said the dispute with Cole and Rouse started with Torrey Homes Co. before Horton acquired Torrey.

"Despite this fact, Horton tried to treat Ms. Cole and Ms. Rouse fairly and reasonably," Oxley said.

"Horton is disappointed with the jury's decision and disagrees with the jury's findings. We believe that a more just outcome will ultimately be achieved."

Horton, the nation's largest home builder, is likely to appeal the verdict.

Cole and Rouse have since moved from the property --- Cole to a home near Acworth and Rouse to Marietta.

After the verdict, plaintiffs' attorney Robert Jackson with Stack & Associates said he interviewed the jurors who heard evidence for seven days.

"They thought the company had operated reprehensibly," Jackson said.

"Horton had identified the ladies' property as the place it was going to put its water. . . . They didn't even know whether they were going to flood them out when they were dumping on them."
Justine Thompson, the executive director of Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest who is training attorneys statewide to try erosion and sedimentation cases, said the verdict shows that people are fed up with dirt running off construction sites.

"It used to be cheaper to break the law. Now the tide is turning," Thompson said.