Cy-Fair company sued over Stafford commercial property

A Cy-Fair company is being sued by a property owner, alleging that it is responsible to clean up the environmental mess that was left after a motorsports business it ran on the Stafford property vacated the premises.

BLT-Houston I LLC filed a lawsuit on Dec. 1 in the Harris County District Court against Houston Motorsports Inc., David Lee Lednicky and Charles R. Harvey, also known as Bob Harvey, alleging breach of contract.

The plaintiff says that Houston Motorsports entered into a lease agreement with Cycle Shack West Inc. on May 1, 2004, for space at 14941 Southwest Freeway in Stafford. The plaintiff says it bought the property from Cycle Shack West in 2005 and continued the lease agreement.

On June 26, 2008, the plaintiff says, the parties entered into a lease termination agreement, with defendants Lednicky and Harvey guaranteeing any potential liabilities of Houston Motorsports.

The plaintiff alleges that it incurred liabilities of $16,505.36 for the removal and disposition of used oils from a 55-gallon drum and an approximate 250-gallon aboveground storage tank on the premises.

When asked to pay, the plaintiff says the defendants asked to be absolved of any future liabilities in exchange for the money, but it did not agree to this condition. The plaintiff received a check, but nothing was said about the aforementioned deal.

On Oct. 9, 2009, a secondary containment system on the leased premises was discovered, and the company removing it believed that the containment contents may have spilled onto the soil. The cost of the cleanup, the plaintiff says, should be paid by the defendants.

On Oct. 30, 2009, the defendants sent paperwork to the plaintiff that essentially said that because it paid the initial cleanup costs, it would not be responsible for future action. The plaintiff says it did not agree with this and didn't sign it.

On Dec. 4, 2009, the plaintiff says it contacted the defendants about the additional money needed to clean up the problems, and it was notified two weeks later by the defendant that it would not pay.

The plaintiff is seeking damages including actual damages, all future damages related to cleanup costs, interest, court costs and any other damages it is entitled to by the court.

The plaintiff is being represented in the case by Houston attorney Bryan S. Dumesnil.

Harris County District Court Case No. 2010-78604.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.