Defendants: DelDOT $89 million I-495 lawsuit 'devoid' of allegations

Two of four Delaware companies facing an $89 million lawsuit over their alleged role in damaging an Interstate-495 bridge over the Christina River have filed a motion to dismiss all claims against them.

Port Contractors Inc. and Alma Properties, LLC argue in documents filed this week in Delaware Superior Court that they had no hand in placing a 55,000-ton mound of dirt next to the highway bridge.

Officials at the Delaware Department of Transportation say the massive pile of loose earth caused the bridge's concrete support columns to lean and rotate, compromising the integrity of the structure. 

The episode, which occurred in mid 2014, sparked an emergency bridge repair project that closed the interstate near Wilmington for months, delaying 90,000 Northeast Corridor drivers each day.

The offending dirt sat on land owned by DuPont and Alma. Keogh Contracting Company and Port Contractors Inc., leased the property.

While the four companies are listed as defendants in the civil complaint filed in April by DelDOT, attorneys for Alma and Port Contractors said in this week's filing that Keogh company officials were solely responsible for the dirt pile.

Keogh had signed a lease making it responsible for ensuring the property was kept "in good and lawful condition," stated the legal memorandum that supported attorneys' motion to dismiss.

DelDOT's complaint was "devoid" of allegations that Alma or Port Contractors "controlled or supervised any of Keogh’s soil business or onsite operations,” the document stated.

“Although DelDOT attempts to obscure the facts by referencing all four 'defendants' collectively, DelDOT does not specifically allege that Port/ALMA put so much as a spoonful of soil on the properties at issue,” the documents stated.

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DelDOT spokesman C.R. McLeod said the agency is aware of the filing and agency "attorneys are currently reviewing the motion." 

Neither DuPont nor Keogh has filed a response to DelDOT's lawsuit.

Keogh owner James B. Thomas Jr. declined to comment on Friday, as did his attorney. Turner, who is the son of a founder of Port Contractors, told The News Journal in 2014 that he would "cooperate 100 percent with DelDOT."

In a statement sent on Friday, DuPont spokesman Dan Turner said the claims against his company are "without merit."

"DuPont leased its property adjacent to the bridge to Port Contractors Inc. who authorized the stockpile by Keogh Contracting Inc. without requesting our consent or permission,” Turner said.

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The original complaint

DelDOT is seeking $89 million from the four companies — double the amount of the total repair costs to the bridge, alleging that "negligence" led to the multi-million-dollar road project.

The agency also is demanding additional compensation, which is yet to be determined, for the costs of traffic delays, increased wear and tear on nearby roadways and the delay of state roadway projects due to the substantial amount of resources that were dedicated to emergency repairs.

The amount sought from each defendant has not been determined, McLeod said in April, but DuPont is liable for at least $6.7 million for failing to keep the interstate right-of-way “clear and free of debris.”

“The size and location of the embankment created a high degree of risk of harm to the department’s land and the bridge,” DelDOT's civil complaint stated. “Causing structural damage to a multi-million-dollar bridge structure virtually guaranteed substantial financial harm to the department, specifically endangered motorists and inconvenienced businesses that rely on transporting goods.”

It was late May in 2014 when an engineer from the Pike Creek firm Duffield Associates was visiting a job site on the Christina River and noticed that several I-495 pillars appeared to be tilting.

He sent photos to DelDOT officials, who ordered a complete shutdown of the bridge on June 2.

Construction crews then rushed to repair the span.

Southbound lanes closed between exits 2 and 3 until July 31, while northbound lanes were closed until Aug. 23.

The closure cut off a key bypass for East Coast transportation. Motorists spilled onto nearby roads.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called the stoppage "a national issue" and his agency stepped in initially with $2 million in emergency funds.

President Barack Obama later delivered a speech about infrastructure funding at the Port of Wilmington, within sight of the span.

As time went on, the U.S. Department of Transportation covered 97 percent of the $44.6 million cost to repair the bridge and remove the 50-foot-tall mound of dirt. That included a $2.4 million disbursement to DelDOT announced this year.

This week's motion to dismiss seemingly implied that DelDOT's lawsuit also was invalid because ultimately it was the federal government that paid nearly all of the repair costs.

"Its complaint asserts that repair costs were $44,617,614.07, but fails to identify (in the court filing) what portion of these alleged costs was actually paid by the State of Delaware," the motion to dismiss memorandum stated. 

If DelDOT wins the case, it will reimburse the federal government for those payments and keep the remainder for its own operations, agency spokesman C.R. McLeod told The News Journal in April.

During the nearly three years following the incident, DelDOT unsuccessfully tried to reach a settlement with DuPont and the other companies, McLeod said earlier this year.

At the time, he said a deal still was possible.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.