Contractor settles federal lawsuit over mud runoff from Riverchase United Methodist Church construction site

HOOVER, Alabama -- A contractor has agreed to pay $76,500 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a Hoover couple whose lake was damaged by mud flowing from an expansion project at Riverchase United Methodist Church.

U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre this week approved a consent decree between Randy and Mary Raines Harper and C.E. Huffstutler Contracting LLC., a Blount County company originally hired as the contractor for the church's expansion project.

The consent decree settles the lawsuit filed April 28 by the Harpers. In the suit, the couple contended storm water carried sediment-laden mud from the construction site through two culverts underneath Carl Raines Lake Road onto their property and into their 4-acre lake. The suit said the mud then flowed into an unnamed creek and ultimately deposited into the Cahaba River.

Randy Harper reported the mud flow into his lake to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, which halted construction March 2011. The order was later lifted.

The church filed its own negligence lawsuit in May in Shelby County Circuit Court against Huffstutler after the church's expansion project experienced problems controlling mud flowing off the site.

Heavy rains apparently overwhelmed the temporary erosion control measures on the site when trees and vegetation were stripped from a 7-acre hillside. That case is still pending.

The church hired a new contractor and the project continues to proceed.

Under terms of the federal court decree, Huffstutler agreed to pay $75,000 to the Harpers for settlement of all claims. The company also will pay the couple $1,500 to cover mediation expenses. The consent decree said the settlement money to be paid by Huffstutler has been pledged through a liability insurance policy.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not object to the federal settlement.

Huffstutler, which has no resources to pay fines or penalties and has stopped all operations except minor tasks necessary to shut the company down, admitted no wrongdoing in settling the claims, according to the court filing. The settlement agreement blocks Huffstutler from engaging in any land-clearing activities at Riverchase United and from discharging any pollutants into any waterways at the church site.

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Contractor settles federal lawsuit over mud runoff from Riverchase United Methodist Church construction site