Free Response to Cross Motion [Dispositive] - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:01-cv-00201-VJW

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Filed 05/26/2006

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00001 1 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS 2 3 4 5 CAROL AND ROBERT TESTWUIDE, ) et al., ) 6 Plaintiffs, ) ) 7 v. ) No. 01-201L )Judge Victor J. Wolski 8 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) 9 Defendant. ) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DEPOSITION UPON ORAL EXAMINATION OF EILEEN MAY TAKEN ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA MARCH 9, 2006

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00024 1 2 3 Q. A. Q. And this is 1993?

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-- three. He died November 12, 1993. So in terms of your house-hunting, you

4 pretty -- you limited yourself to this Kingston 5 area? 6 7 A. Q. Yes, I sure did. Before you decided to purchase the home

8 on 620 Little Neck Road, did you notice military jets 9 flying around that home or hear the noise at that home 10 before you purchased the home? 11 12 A. Q. No. Okay. When you moved into the residence

13 at 620 Little Neck Road, how soon after you moved in 14 did you hear military jet noise? 15 A. I lived there for a while before I

16 really noticed jet noise. 17 Q. When was -- just estimate what year you

18 think you first heard jet noise. 19 A. It was years. It was a couple years.

20 Probably in 1997/'98. 21 Q. Okay. Why does '97/'98 stand out to

22 you? Do you recall anything specific? 23 A. I put a pool in, inground pool in my

24 yard. I remember for years nothing bothered me. I'm 25 just guessing a couple years. It didn't bother me. I

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00035 1 2 Q. A. What about in the summer?

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Last summer -- on a day-to-day basis, I

3 would say I still use my backyard, but I've had to get 4 out of my pool. I've had to leave my deck. I've had 5 to come inside when it got where they were flying 6 overhead and overhead and overhead, because it just -7 it's ear piercing and it's just annoying. 8 Q. How long would that go on for, what you

9 just described? 10 11 12 A. Q. A. 20, 30 minutes maybe. Would that happen both day and night? I don't recall ever at night being

13 outside and coming in because of jet noise. 14 Q. Okay. Let's say how -- how late in the

15 evening would you basically hear the jet noise, 16 whether inside or outside your home? 17 A. It was dark, summertime, eight, nine --

18 well, probably 9 o'clock, 9 p.m. 19 20 Q. That's the latest. How early in a day would you hear the

21 jet noise, whether inside or outside your home? 22 23 A. Q. Yes; I want to say 9 a.m. maybe. From '97/'98 to the present day, you

24 mentioned you can -- on occasions you've been able to 25 see the jets?

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00036 1 2 A. Q. Right.

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Are they directly over-flying your home

3 or are they off to the sides, would you say? 4 A. Well, if I'm sitting in my backyard on

5 my deck, they kind of -- pretty close to being over, 6 but not like -- they kind of come -- I'm real bad at 7 directions. They come, like slice right through on 8 the -- like in front of me or behind me, around the 9 house sort of. 10 11 12 13 Q. A. Q. A. All right. I don't know how to explain it. It's around? Yes. And they've come over, I mean,

14 they've come over as well. But I'm just saying the 15 vicinity is not just -- not limited to being strictly 16 overhead. 17 Q. Okay. So sometimes it's overhead, but

18 then sometimes it's off to the sides? 19 20 A. Q. Exactly. With regard to your children, how old

21 are your children? 22 23 24 25 A. Q. A. Q. At this time? Yes. 23 and 26. Are they still living at home with

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Case 1:01-cv-00201-VJW
00050 1 Q.

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Obviously you're listed as one of the

2 test plaintiff cases for trial for this coming fall. 3 4 A. Q. Yes. In terms of your own personal opinion,

5 what is -- what would you like to see as the outcome 6 of the trial? 7 A. Well, to make the noise go away. I

8 mean -- or -- I don't know what the answer is for 9 that, to be honest with you. I don't know. 10 11 12 13 14 15 Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. You said to make the noise go away? Yes. Would you like to see the jets just -Disappear? Yes. I guess the answer to that question

16 would just be that I would like to be able to enjoy my 17 home, enjoy my backyard. I spent a lot of money to 18 get it the way -- the pool. I spend a lot of time out 19 there gardening in the summertime and I would like to 20 be able to do that in a peaceful environment. 21 Q. And so far, since '97/'98 to the present

22 day, at least your ability to use your pool and your 23 outdoor -- your backyard, you don't think you've been 24 able to fully enjoy it? 25 A. No, I don't.

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