SUNDAY DISPATCH, SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2012
Reaction mixed on Duryea flood suit About ten percent of flood victims sign on to suit against borough By JACK SMILES
jsmiles@psdisptch.com
Over 30 current or former residents of Duryea filed a lawsuit against Duryea Borough and two authorities in the United States Middle District Court of Pennsylvania over the borough’s response to the September, 2011 flood which flooded over 300 homes in the borough. The plaintiffs are represented by Atty. Jack M. Bernard of Philadelphia. Duryea officials named as defendants are Mayor Keith Moss, Police Chief Nick Lohman, Borough Manager Lois Morreale, Council Chairwoman Audrey Marcinko and Councilman in charge of civil defense Frank Groblewski. The Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Sewer Authority
and the Duryea Borough Sewer Authority are also named as defendants. The suit alleges, among other points, that borough officials “willfully, wantonly and recklessly abandoned their duties to Duryea residents, ignoring an emergency action plan that required 5,000 sandbags in place.” Borough officials were reluctant to talk. “I have no comment,” Mayor Moss said on Friday, “because we haven’t been served. As soon as we get served, our lawyer will come out with a statement. After that, I’d be happy to talk about it.” Council President Audrey Marcinko said much the same. “I can’t comment on the advice of our attorney. All I can say is the truth will come out. I wish I
Stan Kapish, the organizer of the group of plaintiffs, said the suit is not about money. “There’s not a fat number thrown out. When we met with the lawyer, he asked everybody for a financial loss statement. Everybody is different. It’s not so much financial. It’s about offering legal advice and about the wrong people being involved in local government. People should be more conscientious in the voting booth. Instead of voting for their friends and family, they should put the right people in office.” could tell you.” Stan Kapish, the organizer of the group of plaintiffs, said the suit is not about money. “There’s not a fat number thrown out. When we met with the lawyer, he asked everybody for a financial loss statement. Everybody is different. It’s not so much financial. It’s about offering legal advice and about the wrong people being involved in local govern-
ment. People should be more conscientious in the voting booth. Instead of voting for their friends and family, they should put the right people in office.” Kapish served one four-year term on Duryea Borough Council, but was defeated by six votes in 2009. Asked if that colored his decision to organize the suit, he said, “Hell, no. That was a long time ago. I’ll put my four years
up against anybody.” Barbara Edwards, a resident of Chittenden Street whose home was flooded with seven feet of water, said she wasn’t asked directly to join the suit, but knew about it. “You know, stuff happens. I don’t think sandbags would have helped that much. The water would have come from somewhere else. ” That doesn’t mean she exonerates the borough. Her biggest complaint was that the fire truck announcing a mandatory evacuation didn’t go down her street. “We could hear them up on Main Street but with three pumps running, we couldn’t hear what they were See DURYEA, Page 21
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