DUNBAR, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Dunbar residents were without water service after a main broke in 2015.
Preston Webster and his family moved to Dunbar in 2013, just two years before the water main break.
“Our first house and … you get all excited to get your own home, then all of the sudden, you know, you lose the main utility,” Webster said.
On June 23, 2015, the water interruptions began. First a water main in Dunbar developed a leak, and repair efforts didn’t fix the leak. Regular water service wasn’t restored until June 27. Then, on June 29, there were additional problems with the water service, and service wasn’t fully restored until July 1.
Webster said businesses were shut down and it had a huge impact on Dunbar as a whole.
“It made a real desirable town into a little less desirable just for the fact of the impact it had on the community, as well,” he said.
A class settlement action has been reached.
“In a class action lawsuit, you allege that a group of people who are similarly situated had the same harm done to them,” Danté DiTrapano, a lawyer on the case, said. “And this was an issues class where we said all of these people suffered some kind of loss of water pressure, loss of water in an area because of a main break.”
Both homes and businesses were impacted by the water issues in 2015. Now with this settlement, they can file a claim if they qualify and get their piece of the settlement.
“The simple residential claim will pay each customer $175, but they can put additional expenses and other information in and get up to $500 per customer. The business claim would then be from $500 up to $1,500 based on submitting different invoices and things like that,” DiTrapano said.
Webster said he qualifies for the settlement, but it doesn’t feel like enough.
“I mean, with the rising price of water costs and everything else it just kind of seems like a Band-Aid on a bullet hole,” he said.
While Webster said the settlement for the inconvenience is nice, he would much rather have consistency in his water service.
If you think you qualify, click here for more information and how to file a claim.
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