CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Commission declared at its meeting Tuesday night it would file lawsuits against insurance companies, and begin paying claims of the victims of the Yeager Airport hillslide itself along with the airport unless the insurance companies began paying soon.
After weeks of deliberations, the commission is fed up with insurance companies and wants to begin reimbursing the victims. Commission President Kent Carper said it’s been 55 days since the problem started, and it’s gone on long enough.
“It’s certainly not the fault of those who lived below the slide,” he said. “It’s not the fault of the church or any of the residents, and the question is how long do you let something go on?”
He said that unless the insurance companies pay the claims, the commission plans to bring litigation against culpable parties.
“Litigation will be filed by us in the next couple weeks, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone didn’t file a lawsuit before that. This has gone on longer than it should have.”
Both Carper and Commissioner Dave Hardy insisted it wasn’t fair to let the innocent victims in the hillslide wait around to be reimbursed for their damaged property much longer. The commission expressed frustration that none of the insurance companies involved have written any checks yet at all.
A special meeting on the claims is planned at Yeager Airport Friday morning. For its part, the airport announced Tuesday it would refinance existing bonds in order to begin paying the affected victims.