Three Cumming families have won a $2.5 million judgment against Pulte Home Corporation for property damages they incurred as a result of an upstream development.
A Forsyth County jury found the builder guilty last week of common law nuisance, trespass and negligence and of repeated violations of Georgia environmental laws. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday morning to consider how the company will fix the problem and repair the damage.
It is one of the largest stormwater pollution judgments in state history, eclipsing a $2.3 million award against D.R. Horton builders in Cobb County six years ago.
Plaintiffs in the case -- Richard and Susan Trent, Sally and Dwayne Lawson,Ruth Bennefield and Timothy and Adele Simerly -- argued Pulte's subdivision damaged their properties by allowing excessive stormwater runoff from Harris Creek. As a result, silt and sediment from Pulte's 733-home development settled on the homeowners' property and created additional erosion problems, said Donald Stack, lead attorney in the suit.
"‘Environmentalist' sometimes has a negative connotation, but what juries do understand is property rights," Stack said. "Developers really do need to consider the impact of their development on downstream homeowners."
The judgment comes on top of a $406,000 finding against Pulte in which the court determined the company had destroyed electronically stored evidence relating to the case.
The homeowners hired Neil Broom, president of Atlanta-based Technical Resources Center, who determined that the hard drives of several Pulte executives and employees were destroyed or permanently altered after the court issued an order to preserve evidence.
Court documents also show the company's own third-party environmental consultant had notified Pulte that it was not complying with environmental permit requirements and had violated Georgia law repeatedly failing to correct best management practices. They also show Pulte received hundreds of "Notices to Comply" and dozens of "Stop Work" orders from Forsyth County during construction.
Officials with Pulte said Wednesday they were disappointed with the verdict and judgment. The company said it plans to appeal.
"We believe the evidence introduced at trial demonstrated that the company took all reasonable steps and complied with all local, state and federal requirements related to the detention and runoff of storm water from our development," said spokeswoman Valerie Dolenga. "We look forward to reaching a fair conclusion to this matter."
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