Windsor schools lose battle for $500K over property contaminated by DOC facility

The Rutland Herald reports that "the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Windsor School District will not be able to recoup about $500,000 in legal expenses following a long legal battle with the state Department of Corrections (DOC)." Notably, "the Windsor School District has been engaged in lawsuits with the DOC over a piece of land the DOC had given the town [in 1976] that later turned out to be contaminated." Indeed, a wood treatment facility that was operated on the property by the DOC from 1954 and 1958 used "a combination of kerosene and a wood preservative called pentachlorophenol" which contaminated the site.

According to the Court, "nobody was aware of the contamination until the DOC contacted the district superintendent in 1995." Windsor subsequently "hired two consulting firms to investigate the property for contamination and in November 1995 the town contacted the DOC telling them of the findings and asked the DOC to assume the full cost of site clean-up." The site, which is now used for a football field and track, was cleaned up by contractors and subcontractors hired by the the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

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