A Finksburg man is seeking $2 million in damages in a lawsuit against local businesses and the State Highway Administration, alleging that past and current underground storage tanks on their properties contaminated his drinking water and gave him cancer.
“When my filters are off, my water smells like paint thinner,” said plaintiff Jeffrey Dix, who lives on Sandra Lane in a house into which he said he regrets ever moving.
The five defendants are past and present owners of properties near Dix?s home: SHA, Later LLC, Wantz Construction Co., Greenprop Inc. and Stephen and Eva Timchula, owners of the land where High?s convenience store sits.
The lawsuit was sent Monday night to the Carroll County Circuit Court. When underground storage tanks were removed from these sites, spills occurred and groundwater was contaminated, according to the lawsuit.
“There are two components: One is the diminution of his property value, and the other is the health impact,” said Robert Taylor, a Towson lawyer representing Dix.
According to the lawsuit, Dix first noticed a “petroleum odor” in his well water in 2003.
That same year, the Maryland Department of Environment detected several chemicals, including benzene, which during the latest reading in December 2005, showed 43 parts per billion, Dix said. The Environmental Protection Agency has set a drinking water standard for benzene ? the maximum contaminant level ? at 5 ppb.
In 2005, Dix was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy.
“I?m in remission, but I have cancer, and no matter how you put it, non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma cannot be cured,” he said.
