Several law firms are moving to sue Los Angeles and the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant over the foul smells and water pollution caused by the emergency release of 17 million gallons of raw sewage into the ocean last month.
The Bloom Law and Parris Law firms jointly filed a claim for damages — the first step toward a potential class-action lawsuit — in early August on behalf of at least a dozen residents. A second group of about 20 families, represented separately by attorney Abraham Sandoval, is expected to submit its claims within the next week.
The city has 45 days to accept or deny the claims before the matters can proceed to court.
The Bloom and Parris Law claim alleges Los Angeles Sanitation (LASAN) negligently violated California law by failing to notify the public about the raw sewage for 18 hours and by releasing hydrogen sulfide and other noxious gases into the air. Without proper notice, people swimming in the ocean and playing on beaches were exposed to “unknown chemicals, bacteria and viruses from LASAN’s wrongful conduct,” the claim states.
The firms’ clients have experienced nausea, vomiting, burning eyes and respiratory issues, according to Mark Bloom, an El Segundo attorney working on the case. The two firms represent at least 13 residents, enough to qualify for a class-action lawsuit, Bloom said. More than 100 community members have reached out in the month since the sewage discharge, Bloom noted.
“We’re going to take whatever route is necessary to protect the community,” he said.
Failure to maintain plant
Their claim alleges Los Angeles Sanitation’s failure to maintain Hyperion resulted in the flooding July 11 that ultimately led to the release of raw sewage into the ocean and the lingering odors from the piles of sludge left behind, the claim alleges. The smells caused a nuisance for residents that the law firms described as an “inverse condemnation” because it forced residents to either to leave their homes or risk their health.
In some cases, residents were unable to use hotel reimbursements offered by L.A. either because either their pets weren’t allowed at the hotels or because their children are not vaccinated yet, Bloom said.
“LASAN’s use of its property and structures is injurious to claimants’ property and health and is unreasonably offensive to the senses,” the claim states. “As a result, LASAN’s actions constitute an obstruction of the free use of the claimants’ property, thereby interfering with the comfortable use and enjoyment of life or property.”
The claim indicates the damage to each claimant is “certain to exceed $50,000,” but does not include a total. The money sought is for “discomfort, irritation and annoyance” from the foul odors, the restoration of residents’ “comfortable enjoyment of their homes,” medical monitoring and attorneys’ fees.
A spokesperson for Los Angeles Sanitation declined to comment on the claim because it is pending litigation.
‘We’ll get to the bottom of it’
The second potential lawsuit covers much of the same ground. Sandoval, an attorney representing about 20 families living near Hyperion, expects to file claims against Los Angeles, the county, and any other agency whose failures may have played a role in the plant disruption. Sandoval pointed to the county Public Health Department’s failure to promptly tell the public about the discharge as one such example.
“They’re going to have to disclose through discovery who is responsible for what, what part every actor played in all of this, and we’ll get to the bottom of it,” Sandoval said.
The families he represents plan to rally and share their stories outside of El Segundo City Hall at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, before the City Council meeting.
The families have experienced negative health effects, including rashes and respiratory issues, particularly among children, pets and the elderly. They have been deprived access to their homes and yards because of the overwhelming smells, Sanodval said. Many can’t even open their windows and do not have central air conditioning.
“The City of L.A. is offering to pay for air conditioners and to reimburse people for hotels, but there are still damages that no one is speaking of,” Sandoval said. “I haven’t seen anything from any government agency whatsoever offering to help out with any of those damages.”
Clients live ‘day by day’
Sandoval does not plan to pursue a class-action lawsuit because of the length of time that could take, he said. “Some of my clients live day by day. They can’t afford to be waiting years and years for someone to take action,” he said.
Both the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board have found Hyperion has repeatedly violated air and water quality standards, respectively, since the flood in July.
SCAQMD has issued 19 notices of violation against Hyperion, most of which were for the “public nuisance” caused by the odors, according to its website. Testing by AQMD found that while some levels of gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, were higher than typical, they did not exceed the state’s standard of 30 parts per billion averaged over a one-hour period.
The damaged wastewater treatment plant has continued to discharge millions of gallons of partially treated wastewater into the ocean since the initial emergency release in July. As more of the plant has come back online in recent weeks, however, the contaminants released with the wastewater have declined sharply after reaching a high that was as much as 10 times the state standards.
As of Monday, Hyperion was just slightly above the weekly allowable limit for total suspended solids and within compliance for turbidity and settleable solids. The solid particulates can coat the ocean floor, clogging fish gills and blocking sunlight needed by plants. Hyperion plans to study aquatic life once the plant is fully operational again to determine if there were any impacts from the discharges.
Both the AQMD and the water quality board are monitoring Hyperion and are expected to take action against the plant, likely in the form of fines, once the disaster is under control.