A jury has found the former owners of a Castleton apartment project liable for the contaminated water its residents were forced to use for years.
After five hours of deliberations, a jury in Rutland Superior Court ruled Wednesday that the former owners of the Parsons Hill apartments concealed the presence of a carcinogen known as PCE. No monetary award was given, although a trial may be held later to determine punitive damages.
The verdict is a victory for 94 plaintiffs and former tenants of the building.
The jury said the liability of former owners Katherine Rooney and her husband William Rooney extends from 1993 to 1997, when the holding tank that was leaching the toxic chemical was removed.