Campbell County repeated a request that a judge set aside a $9 million jury award and order a new trial in a lengthy court battle involving groundwater contamination from the county’s landfill.
The most recent motion was filed just before Christmas. The county contends that the award, which includes damages and restitution, was excessive. A hearing is scheduled for next week in Amherst County.
Claude “Butch” and Virginia Royal, who own the 160-acre Twin Oaks park near Yellow Branch, sued the county in 2005 and 2006 after testing in 2002 showed chemicals were leaking from the nearby county landfill into their drinking water.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Gamble ruled in September that the county was responsible for polluting the water. A nine-day civil trial that addressed evidence about the value of that damage began on Oct. 19. It came after years of legal wrangling that included multiple parties and assigning the case to an Amherst County judge.
In late October, a jury awarded the Royals the $9 million judgment plus legal fees and interest. The Royals and the county agreed in November that an additional $645,000 was a fair amount for legal fees.
Lawyers for the Royals argued in an early December filing that the verdict was not excessive and the jury was not required to calculate its award using specified damages. Additionally, lawyers wrote that evidence presented during the trial could lead jurors to conclude that the property could be a liability if the Royals continued operations.
The filing was in response to Campbell County’s first motion before Thanksgiving for a judge to set aside the verdict and order a new trial because the county felt the award was excessive.
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