Environmental Toxins: $1.95 M Settlement Reached in Martinsville Well Contamination Case

Insurance companies for William J. and Elizabeth J. Cure will pay $1.95 million to settle a lawsuit involving perchloroethylene contamination in one of the city's wells. The Cures own a building at 28-1/2 N. Main Street, where Masterwear drycleaners had been located. The dry-cleaning business has been linked to the contamination of the well.

City gets $1.95 million in PCE settlement

Contamination from the drycleaner shut down one of Martinsville's wells in 2004. As a result of this settlement, the Cures and their insurance companies, United States Fidelity and Guaranty and the Hoosier Insurance Company, are not liable for any further financial responsibility. A lawsuit against James Reed, the owner of Masterwear, still is ongoing. Martinsville hopes to regain the $3 million it lost paying to clean the water from the contaminated well from these lawsuits.