It’s been nearly two months since a dozen homes in Bellevue flooded after a construction crew damaged a water main.
Homeowners along Hancock and Main St. have been waiting to hear who will take responsibility for the waterline break and have now taken legal action.
Bill Vance is one of the homeowners who now has an empty and destroyed basement.
“I can’t explain what I feel; its past mad, it’s like in a split second somebody takes your life and what you had away from you,” he said.
Vance’s basement flooded after a Gearhart plumbing crew hit a waterline underneath the street in February. For hours water and sewage rushed into his home, ruining everything.
The City of Bellevue, M.U.D., and Gearhart's insurer, Columbia National are all fighting over who's at fault.
Gearhart claims M.U.D. didn’t properly mark the location of the waterline, causing them to hit it.
M.U.D. said in a statement, "M.U.D. properly completed the locate request submitted by the sewer repair contractor through the One Call Center, which specifically said to "Mark Rear of Property.'"
This finger pointing leaves Vance and the rest of the street waiting for someone to repair their homes.
“We are still devastated, with half a home, and everything you own gone just in a drop.”
While Vance waits for someone to step up and take the blame, he and his wife Donna watch as mold takes over their basement.
“What we want is what we had, we want the basement back the way it was that we lived in, and worked all these years for,” he said.
Vance said on Friday he and several other neighbors hired an attorney to help them get the payment they deserve for their damaged homes.
Columbia National Statement:
“After a thorough investigation, we have concluded our policyholder, Gearhart Construction, acted appropriately in this situation. Gearhart Construction made a timely “One-Call” locate request. The Metropolitan Utilities District (MUD), however, failed to mark the location of a waterline in the area that should have been marked in response to the One-Call request. Gearhart Construction avoided all properly marked utilities. We sympathize with the homeowners of this Bellevue neighborhood, but we found no negligence on behalf of our policyholder.”
M.U.D Statement:
"Metropolitan Utilities District understands this is a frustrating situation for the homeowners and others affected by the struck water main. M.U.D. properly completed the locate request submitted by the sewer repair contractor through the One Call Center, which specifically said to “Mark Rear of Property.”
