Scranton-area homeowners sue over undisclosed sewer lines
The largest investor-owned water utility in Pennsylvania closed Thursday on its $195 million purchase of Scranton's sewer system amid a lawsuit filed by homeowners who say the Scranton Sewer Authority offered them a pittance for easements that should have been acquired decades ago.
Pennsylvania American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, bought the Scranton Sewer Authority's wastewater system. When the deal was announced in March, officials said the sale proceeds would be used to pay off the sewer authority's $70 million debt, with the balance to be split between the city of Scranton and Dunmore borough.
The lawsuit, filed last month in Lackawanna County Common Pleas Court, said the homeowners had no clue that public sewer lines ran underneath their properties until August, when the sewer authority informed them of the lines' existence. The authority offered each homeowner $100 for easements that would give it, and its successor, the right to perform repairs or maintenance on the previously undisclosed lines.
Six homeowners who received the letters sued, arguing the sewer system had no right to operate the decades-old lines in the first place. Their lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of some 600 home and business owners in Scranton.
Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-homeowners-sue-over-mystery-sewer-lines-20161229-story.html
