Belle Vernon company countersues for damages in suit filed by captain of capsized boat
A Belle Vernon contractor has countersued a Belle Vernon man who claimed he was nearly killed when their vessel took on water and sunk in the Monongahela River in Greene County.
Matt Canestrale Contracting, Inc., through attorney E. Richard Ogrodowski, claimed that Paul Wroble Jr. of Masontown was negligent when he took the vessel out on Jan. 8, 2009. The company wants a federal judge to order Wroble to pay for the costs of salvaging the vessel and for the associated environmental cleanup costs.
However, Wroble’s attorney filed a response to that on Monday, denying that his client had any responsibility for the wreckage and asking that the counterclaim be dismissed.
In June, Wroble sued the company, Allegheny Energy Inc. and West Penn Power Co. claiming that he was trying to assist a stuck barge at the Hatfield’s Ferry Power Plant when the vessel, called The Sheila, capsized, and water rushed into and flooded the engine room.
He fell backward, hit his back, head and neck, and eventually escaped through a window, the suit alleged.
Wroble’s suit, filed by attorney Stephen P. Moschetta, alleged he was trying to help the Hatfield’s Ferry II, another vessel in the water at the time.
The countersuit, filed by Matt Canestrale Contracting, alleged that Wroble was told not to take the boat into the river because of high water conditions, but did so anyway. The countersuit asks for $38,349.55 for salvage and cleanup costs, and additional damages.