PORTLAND – The Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday refused to revive a negligence lawsuit filed by the widow of a man killed more than four years ago in an accident at the town transfer station in Mount Vernon.

Priscilla Reid appealed a lower court’s dismissal of her suit against the town, Waste Management of Maine Inc. and her brother-in-law Clayton Reid who was hauling trash to the transfer station with brother James Reid at the time of the July 12, 2003, accident.

Although there were no eyewitnesses to the accident, Clayton Reid theorized that the tailgate of his truck dropped down and James Reid fell into a trash dumpster that was nearly flush with the ground. He died as a result of striking his head.

Two chains that had been attached to the dumpster to prevent people from falling in had been broken months before the accident and had not been replaced by the town.

The justices agreed that Priscilla Reid failed to spell out how her husband’s fall occurred and how his brother violated any duty in a manner that caused the tragedy.

“James Reid could have placed himself in a precarious position behind the truck, he could have accidentally let down the tailgate, Clayton Reid could have backed up too close, or the tailgate could have fallen down by itself, knocking James Reid into the dumpster,” the court said.

The justices also unanimously agreed that Waste Management, which leased the dumpsters to the town, was not subject to liability because the agreement did not hold the company responsible for maintenance of safety measures.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Warren Silver said the town “allowed a dangerous situation to continue for a significant period of time” and that the case against the town should be allowed to move forward. He said the majority opinion was inconsistent with the court’s decision in a 1996 case involving an individual who was injured after falling into a trash hopper at the waste transfer station in Standish.