Pierce Township Neighbors Are Asking a Jury for $3.3 Million After About 250 Trees Were Cut From the Greenbelt That Shielded Their Homes

For decades, a belt of woods between Pierce Township homes and the old Beckjord coal plant was covered by a promise to keep it “substantially undisturbed.” Today, residents say about 250 of those trees are gone, and a federal jury in Cincinnati is being asked to decide whether that broke the deal.

The residents’ group, Neighbors Opposing Pit Expansion, wants $3.3 million from the site’s owner, Commercial Liability Partners. The trial began Nov. 9 and was expected to last about a week, according to WCPO’s investigative reporting. No verdict or settlement had been reported in the coverage found as of Nov. 13, 2026.

1986: A Deal to Keep the Woods Between Homes and the Plant

The agreement dates to 1986. WCPO reports it was reached between Pierce Township, residents and the plant’s then-owner, Cincinnati Gas & Electric, after both sides threatened lawsuits over the expansion of a coal ash pit.

Under its terms, the public was to be told about the disposal of contaminated waste, and the greenbelt was to stay a “substantially undisturbed” buffer between the neighborhood and the plant. Witnesses, WCPO says, describe what that looked like before 2019: a mature tree canopy, seedlings and saplings, and a clean forest floor without invasive species.

2018 to 2019: A New Owner and About 250 Trees Down

Duke Energy closed the Beckjord plant in 2014, leaving more than 5 million tons of coal ash in unlined ponds, according to a Yahoo News republication of the story from The Cool Down. In February 2018, Missouri-based Commercial Liability Partners bought the 1,443-acre site from Duke, WCPO reports.

The cutting came in 2019. About 250 walnut, maple, cherry and pine trees came down, some of them roughly 50 feet tall, and logging roads were cut through the forest. Allen Freeman, chairman of the Pierce Township Board of Trustees, said the logging followed the company’s efforts to sell valuable material from the property. Walking the site, he said, the tree line looked “just shaved off.”

2019 to 2026: Seven Years of Court Fights Over the Site

Neighbors Opposing Pit Expansion sued in 2019, according to WCPO. The fight has not been only about trees. In a separate suit brought by more than 100 residents, WCPO reported on Oct. 30, 2023 that U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett refused to dismiss the case and ruled that the 1986 agreement was still in effect, rejecting the company’s argument that it expired in 2016.

A state-level challenge went the other way. In June 2025, Ohio’s Tenth District Court of Appeals sided with the company over a permit the Ohio EPA director issued in 2021 to close Ash Pond B, holding that the neighbors’ group was not a party to that proceeding and its appeal was untimely.

The Yahoo report adds that the state EPA found noncompliance involving two ash ponds in the spring and issued a violation in June. It says the ponds sit about 1,000 feet from Clermont County drinking-water wells.

Nov. 9, 2026: A Jury Hears What “Substantially Undisturbed” Means

Jury selection and trial opened Nov. 9 in federal court. The jurors’ job in this first trial is narrow. They are being asked whether the greenbelt must remain a mature forest and whether the company must pay $3.3 million for destroying the trees, WCPO reports.

WCPO does not name the judge or give a case number, and the trial is described as taking place in the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. Lawyers for the residents and for the company are arguing over one phrase in a 40-year-old agreement, and the jury is being asked to say what it meant for the trees.

The company’s attorney, Gregory DeGulis, said in his opening statement that the phrase “substantially undisturbed state” is the main term in dispute. His argument, as reported by Yahoo, is that the agreement does not specifically mention trees or mature forest.

The neighbors’ attorney, Dave Altman, told WCPO the residents wanted the land left alone. Christopher Knoop, a former township trustee, said the parties agreed from the beginning not to disturb the property. Neighbors also expect to testify about the lost canopy and forest floor, wildlife habitat and invasive honeysuckle that has since taken hold, WCPO says.

What Comes Next After the Verdict

Whatever the jury decides, the case does not end there. WCPO reports that a second claim, alleging the company did not disclose how it moved coal ash and used an underfunded shell company, New Richmond Development Corp., to limit its liability, will go to a different jury at a later trial.

A separate federal case is also pending. On Sept. 24, 2026, the Clermont County Board of Commissioners sued in the Southern District of Ohio, in a complaint posted on the county’s website, naming Commercial Liability Partners, New Richmond Development, Duke Energy Beckjord, Duke Energy Ohio and two other companies. The county, which runs well fields serving about 145,000 residents, asks the court to order coal ash investigation and cleanup, and it requests a jury trial.

The complaint alleges that groundwater contamination, mainly sulfate, is moving toward the county’s wells, that one well was permanently taken out of service, and that manganese has been detected in the well field. Those are allegations in a filing, not findings, and the Yahoo report carries no statement from Duke Energy on the neighbors’ trial.

For the Pierce Township neighbors, the immediate question is simpler: whether the people who sit in the jury box agree that a belt of trees promised in 1986 was supposed to still be standing.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Aesopposea – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons