WEST PITTSTON - There's new information tonight about a lawsuit filed by the sisters of a woman in Luzerne County who died during the flood of 2011.
That suit was filed almost a year after the Carol Mikols was found dead in the basement of her sister`s home in West Pittston.
Less than a foot of water seeped into Ann Mikols' basement at her Susquehanna River Shores home in West Pittston during the flood of September 2011.
Her sister Carol died in the basement,
We first talked with Ann last summer after she filed suit.
"She was really just looking out for my home," Ann Mikols said of her sister who was checking on pet cats.
The autopsy showed Carol Mikols passed out in the basement and died from a lack of oxygen.
According to the lawsuit a site test showed that oxygen was diluted by gas likely from a 1950's era landfill the home was built on.
The suit claims flooding raised the groundwater and pushed the landfill gas into the basement.
"I`m sure she had no awareness when she went down into that basement how dangerous it could be," said Mary Howells, Carol's other sister.
As part of the suit, the sisters legal team showed two reports, one from RT Environmental Services which suggested a clean up plan for the site before anything could be built there and the second from Borton-Lawson Engineering which provided a site assessment.
The developers say it relied on these reports before it built homes over the landfill.
If Carol Mikols' sisters win the suit, and the developer of Susquehanna River Shores is found negligent, the developer is asking the two firms to help pay any or all judgement a jury would award to the sisters.