Posted on 09/01/2002 10:17:08 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
Arlington: Builder sues over explosive
Woman says she found old bomb near home; suit says it was planted
08/30/2002
By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News
A legal dispute continues between a San Antonio-based homebuilding firm and Arlington homeowners who say they were not told that their houses were built on a World War II-era bombing practice range.
The latest round in the conflict came this summer when KB Home filed a lawsuit against the leader of the homeowners' group, accusing her of planting one of the practice bombs on a new lot in the subdivision.
Dozens of the practice bombs, which U.S. Army officials say contain a small amount of explosives and are not considered dangerous, have been found in the Southridge Hills subdivision, south of Interstate 20 just west of Matlock Road and south of West Harris Road.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has designated the site a high-priority for study and cleanup.
In a lawsuit filed in July, KB Home contends that on Jan. 26, Thea Lewis and two other people trespassed on a lot in Southridge Hills. The company alleges in the suit that Ms. Lewis dug a hole with a shovel, planted a practice bomb, then called the police to report it.
Ms. Lewis, president of the Southridge Hills neighborhood association and a vocal critic of KB Home, says she was at the site where the practice bomb was found and saw police arrive but denies planting the device.
"I had nothing to do with anything," Ms. Lewis said. "I'm disabled. I've got degenerative disc disease. I can't dig anything."
The Southridge Hills subdivision is built on the Five Points Outlying Field. Decades ago, pilots flying out of Dallas Naval Air Station dropped practice bombs on the site. And although officials say the bombs are not dangerous, they have urged homeowners to call 911 when the devices are found.
Arlington officers suspected that the practice bomb they investigated Jan. 26 was planted because the mud around it did not match the soil on the lot, Detective J.P. Mason said. However, the criminal investigation is inactive because of a lack of evidence, he said. No arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed.
Ms. Lewis said the lawsuit was politically motivated because of her opposition to the homebuilder's development of Southridge Hills.
"I'm a thorn in their side," she said. "This is a ploy to get back at me. They don't scare me."
KB Home officials would not comment beyond the allegations made in the lawsuit.
"Because this is a matter in litigation, we cannot discuss specifics of the case or related allegations," David Christian, president of the KB Home's Dallas division, said in a prepared statement. "However, it is important to know that this step was taken only after careful review of all the information, including the criminal complaint on file with the city of Arlington."
Corps to study site
The Corps of Engineers says the practice bombs contain a minimal amount of powder and possibly phosphorous to mark the spot where they landed.
But in November 2001, the Corps classified Southridge Hills a high-priority site for study and cleanup because of the possibility that the phosphorous could burn skin.
Soil samples will be collected in late October to determine if there is contamination near homes, said Anita Horky, a corps spokeswoman.
The owners of 81 Southridge houses have filed a $100 million lawsuit against KB Home alleging that they weren't warned about the practice bombs in the area.
Owners of 40 additional houses there have intervened in the original lawsuit seeking their own damages.
The company has said its contracts with homeowners adequately disclosed the former uses of the property on which the subdivision is located.
Ms. Lewis, a plaintiff in one of the homeowners' lawsuits, said that before KB Home filed suit against her, company officials tried to persuade her to sign an affidavit swearing that she helped plant the bomb on Jan. 26 and that she has never found any of the practice bombs on her property or anywhere else in the subdivision. She said company officials told her that if she signed the affidavit, they would buy her $150,000 house back at about a $30,000 profit.
"They wanted me to hush my mouth," Ms. Lewis said. "They wanted me to promise not to talk about this."
Company officials declined to comment.
Ms. Lewis was not the focus of the police investigation, Detective Mason said. He said police originally were told that Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building, a San Antonio watchdog group, planted the practice bomb.
Lack of proof
"The bottom line is, we can't prove that [Ms. Ahmad] or anyone else buried the bomb," Detective Mason said. Ms. Ahmad "swears she didn't, and we have no witnesses that saw her do it."
Ms. Ahmad, also a longtime critic of KB Home who was with Ms. Lewis at the Southridge Hills site on Jan. 26, denies any wrongdoing.
"We saw a bomb there," Ms. Ahmad said. "I went to my truck and got a shovel. It's so dumb. The fact is, there are bombs there. Who would plant a bomb when there are so many out there? They've wasted the Police Department's time investigating this. This discourages people from calling about these bombs when they find them."
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