PARIS – A 28-year-old New Hampshire man has sued two Massachusetts men and a Fryeburg campground after he was seriously injured by a water balloon in 2007.

Eric A. Nelson of Manchester, N.H., is accusing Jonathan D. Buell and Frederick J. Lavitman of Framingham, Mass., with negligence. He also charges Fiddlehead Campground with breach of contract and breach of duty.

Attorney Malcolm Lyons, representing Nelson, said Lavitman provided a three-man slingshot to Buell, who fired it. Lyons said the campground “advertised that guests can ‘avoid rowdy groups canoeing on the river’ by staying at the campground, where campers agree to standard campground groups that ‘help control noise and unruly behavior.'”

Lyons said a campground contract implied that it would provide protection from unruly behavior, and that it breached the contract by letting Buell and Lavitman possess the slingshot and fire water balloons at campers and people on the Saco River.

In the incident on Aug. 12, 2007, Nelson was struck in the eye by a balloon that had been fired from 67 feet away. He suffered a broken ocular bone and lacerations to the face and was later flown to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston.

Police confiscated two water balloon slings, a compressed air water balloon cannon, and water balloon remnants.

Buell, now 29, was initially charged with elevated aggravated assault, but the charge was reduced to reckless conduct. The District Attorney’s Office dropped the charge in January of 2008 due to lack of evidence.

Lavitman, 26 at the time of the incident, was also arrested after the incident and charged with aggravated reckless conduct; however, the District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the case.

Lyons said Nelson incurred physical injury, permanent impairment, severe emotional distress, past and future medical bills, lost earnings, and lost enjoyment of life. He is asking for judgment against the two men and the campground in a reasonable amount with interest and costs.

Chief Phil Weymouth of the Fryeburg Police Department said enforcement on the Saco River is a difficult task, because it is 17 miles long and has thousands of people on it during peak summer periods. He said the department is sometimes assisted by the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police, or Maine Warden Service.

In addition, the nonprofit Saco River Recreational Council aims to protect the river and educate people who use it. It is made up of local businesses and residents, as well as the Appalachian Mountain Club and states of Maine and New Hampshire. Weymouth credited Eric Root, owner of Fiddlehead Campgrounds, with working toward improving conditions on the river.

“He’s probably been the one that’s spearheading this whole thing,” Weymouth said. “He’s the one who the minute I got here he came through the door and said ‘What are we going to do about the river?'”

Weymouth said the groups were approaching the selectmen Thursday night to ask them to let the Recreational Council run the Canal Bridge parking area, the last one on the river not under their control. He said fees collected at the site would go toward river enforcement, and that the group has committed to providing $18,300 a year for the next three years to bolster the Police Department’s $10,000 budget for river enforcement.

Weymouth said he will also ask the selectmen to lift a ban put in place last year preventing municipal police officers from providing outside details to campgrounds. He said he plans to put more officers in place at the parking areas to increase enforcement against underage drinking, liquor violations and other issues.

“We have put together a very aggressive plan for the river this summer,” he said.

Root confirmed that he is working with the Police Department and Recreational Council to address problems on the river, but declined comment on the lawsuit.

“We’re working with the chief to make this a safer experience,” he said.