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SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS
$1.6 Million Won in Landfill
Suit By MARK VAN DE KAMP A retired Solvang couple was awarded $1.6 million in damages by a jury that determined real estate agents intentionally failed to disclose the home they purchased 20 years ago was atop an abandoned county landfill.The Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $800,000 for loss of property value and $865,000 for emotional distress.But the amount of damages for Charles and Judith Chase may be reduced. The real estate companies named as defendants are requesting the judge consider offsetting the size of the award, because three years ago the county purchased the home and paid for other expenses in a $950,000 settlement. That was the largest single settlement in county history. The new verdict, reached earlier this month, is the latest twist in the history of the Ballard Canyon Landfill, a small dump just north of Solvang. Between 1948 and 1969, tons of trash and solvents were dumped into deep pits and trenches at the unlined county-run landfill, then covered with soil. A few years later, the land was subdivided, two homes were constructed, and several water wells were drilled. The Chases bought their 10-acre property in 1982. Their attorney, Albert Cohen of Los Angeles, said they were exposed to toxic chemicals by drinking, cooking and bathing in contaminated water from their well, and that they breathed toxic vapors inside and outside their home. The Chases were not aware they lived atop the abandoned landfill until many years later, Mr. Cohen said. The couple bought the property at 940 Ballard Canyon Road through the Merrill Lynch Realty office in Santa Ynez. That company was later sold to Prudential Residential Services. Both companies are named as defendants. Two attorneys with Prudential declined to comment about the case, explaining it is company policy not to discuss pending litigation. The county continues to monitor and attempt to control contamination at the landfill site. In 1988, high levels of methane and vinyl chloride gas were detected when the county began looking into possible hazards at the site. A few years ago, as a precaution, the county began supplying 18 property owners and residents along Ballard Canyon Road with bottled water and trucked-in water. Those people were using well water. The county has dug trenches atop the landfill and installed a gas extraction system. It's also monitoring the groundwater with numerous wells. About a year ago, the county settled lawsuits with 16 property owners for approximately $1.5 million.
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