A Boothbay Harbor couple are suing a Southport woman over soil testing she did for them in 2009.

A civil suit Calvin and Sally Barter filed in Lincoln County Superior Court claims they hired Lauren Stockwell of Stockwell Environmental Consulting, to test the soil on the Barters' Lakeside Drive property.

The Barters claim they sold part of the property after Stockwell reported the soil did not contain fuel oil; but the new owners found it did and then sued the Barters, who agreed to pay “substantial … damages,” the Barters' lawyer, Richard Elliott, states in the suit.

Stockwell's lawyer, Patrick Parson, claims the Barters' “failure to disclose material facts … rendered the soil sampling … inaccurate,” Parson wrote in a response filed October 30.

Stockwell was not aware that the property was once the site of four petroleum tanks belonging to a commercial fuel company, Parson said in a telephone interview December 2. So the sampling Stockwell did was the type done for a residential site, he said.

Stockwell proposed more extensive work, but the Barters' realtor rejected the idea because of the added cost, Parson said.

Parson is still evaluating the Barters' case, but from what he has seen so far, he said, “I don't think my client has got any liability. I don't think she has done anything inappropriate.”

The Barters' suit doesn't specify a dollar amount they're seeking. Stockwell is asking the court to award the Barters nothing, and award her her legal costs.

The Barters and their attorney declined comment.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.