Estate sues over death at landfill

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The estate of a man electrocuted and killed in an August 2007 all-terrain- vehicle accident in New Springfield has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The suit filed this week by Linda Yarian, administrator of the estate of John Hatala of New Waterford, lists Dave Sugar Excavating of Petersburg, Mahoning Landfill of New Springfield, S.L.F. Development Inc. of Austintown, Ohio Edison of Columbus and several unidentified others. It seeks unspecified damages from these defendants.

S.L.F. owns the Garfield Road property where the landfill operates, the lawsuit says.

On Aug. 5, 2007, Hatala, 22, was riding his ATV on the Garfield Road property and his vehicle “came into contact with the energized downed Ohio Edison guide [guy]wire,” the lawsuit said.

Dave Sugar Excavating was installing sanitary-sewer lines in the area of Unity Road and Garfield Road before the date of the accident.

On that day, Sugar employees “negligently, willfully, wantonly and recklessly caused an Ohio Edison guide [guy] wire to snap and come into contact with an Ohio Edison primary line which was energized and conducting electricity,” the complaint says.

Hatala died at the scene.

Representatives from Dave Sugar Excavating and S.L.F. couldn’t be reached. Spokesmen for both Ohio Edison and the landfill said they hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.