The first of what's expected to be many lawsuits was filed in Orange County Court on Wednesday against Lennar Homes, one of several companies that built some houses atop part of a forgotten Army bombing range.
The first of what's expected to be many lawsuits was filed in Orange County Court on Wednesday against Lennar Homes, one of several companies that built some houses atop part of a forgotten Army bombing range.
"We want answers," said John R. Overchuck, an attorney for Gina Viera, whose southeast Orange property may contain bombs, bomb fragments or contamination.
"We want to know how this could have happened and what this will do to my client's property value. She doesn't know if she could ever sell it."
Lawyers have been circling since the Army Corps of Engineers announced in July that at least two live World War II-era bombs were found on ranchland behind Odyssey Middle School, down the street from Viera's new home.
The Corps also announced that the school and part of the 950-acre Vista Lakes community were built atop the western fringe of the range used in the late 1940s to train bombardiers.
Mercury and nitroglycerine, chemicals that could be coming from leaky, old bombs, were found in some soil samples on the land, the Corps said.
The Corps checked the school property for signs of bombs last month and is still analyzing the data before declaring the school bomb-free.
While it promised to clean up the schoolyard and some of the ranchland, Corps officials said repeatedly that they don't have the millions of dollars needed to check and clean up the rest of the area.
The Corps announced Wednesday that it plans to establish a community advisory board where citizens, residents, builders and Corps officials can meet and share information, as efforts to investigate the bombing-range issues continue.
Viera's suit contends that the builder should have known and disclosed any problem that could negatively affect the property values, Overchuck said.
Mark Sustana, Lennar Homes' general counsel based in Miami, said he hasn't seen the lawsuit yet and can't comment on it specifically.
But he said that Lennar bought the ready-to-build property from the development company, Newland Communities, and relied on its engineering data. That data didn't indicate any trouble with the property.
"As far as who's holding the bag here, I don't know that anyone has breached their legal duties to the property owners," Sustana said.
But Ron Cumello, president of the Vista Lakes Community Association, said that he knows of numerous residents talking to lawyers for potential lawsuits.
"As a resident here, I know we are worried about our property values," he said.
"People have spent $500,000, $600,000, and they're worried."
Recently, Lennar Homes' Orlando division president, Charles E. Cook, announced that it would send munitions experts through the two neighborhoods it built -- Lee Vista Square and Warwick -- to check property around the 450 or so homes for signs of bombs or bomb fragments.
It was unclear whether builders on other parts of the Vista Lakes community would do the same.
On Wednesday, workers with Munitions Management Group of Knoxville and Naeva Geophysics Inc. of Charlottesville, Va., were looking for signs of underground bombs or bomb fragments in the Lennar-built neighborhoods with ground-penetrating radar.
Worker Brian Neely pulled a four-wheeled cart wired to his backpack across a front lawn, walking back and forth until all the ground had been covered. It wasn't revealed whether they found anything so far in the search.
Cumello was skeptical of the effort. "I think it's a PR move to try and show there's no grounds for damages in a lawsuit," he said.
Sustana said that's not the case.
"When we heard that there might be a problem, we voluntarily hired a third party to go scan for ordnance," he said.
"For all we know, there's nothing wrong with the property, and we hope that turns out to be the case."
Rich McKay can be reached at
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or 407-420-5470.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bomb0607sep06,0,5086629.story
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