Class Action Filed Against LADWP Alleging Years' Long Cover-up of Sun Valley Gas Leak

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by the PARRIS Law Firm, the LA Department of Water & Power (LADWP) is accused of covering up a massive gas leak at the Sun Valley Generating Station for at least three years.

The suit alleges LADWP harmed the largely LatinX and African American community when the utility knowingly allowed the Valley Generating Station to leak toxic gas for years. According to the complaint, residents in Sun Valley and Pacoima were exposed to poisonous fumes that caused recurring headaches, bloody noses, shortness of breath, severe anxiety, and nausea.

"This dangerous gas leak affected our entire community," said Ruben Rodriguez, Executive Director of Pueblo y Salud - a nonprofit organization that works to protect the public health and safety of communities including the San Fernando Valley areas of Sun Valley and Pacoima. "Those in the neighborhoods surrounding the Station were all breathing the same toxic air," Rodriguez added, "they have been suffering with unexplained health issues for years and had no idea why. Now, we know why."

The harm in LADWP's failure to warn residents about the gas leak was also exacerbated because it did so when COVID-19 was spreading like wildfire. LADWP's failure to act, especially during the global pandemic, is inexcusable because exposure to the contaminated gas increases respiratory difficulties and can further complicate someone's ability to recover from COVID-19, the complaint alleges.

"Make no mistake about it…this gas leak represents an utter breakdown of duty and morality," said attorney R. Rex Parris, founder of the PARRIS Law Firm. "I don't think anyone would have thought that a public entity would knowingly allow its facility to leak toxic fumes into residential neighborhoods for 1,085 days," Parris added.

Adding insult to injury, LADWP's own General Manager publicly acknowledged that "the people who live around Valley Generating Station, who breathe the air in that area of the city… are making somewhat of a sacrifice in support of the overall efforts of the city." According to the complaint, LADWP violated the public's trust when it made the informed choice to sacrifice residents' health by failing to immediately fix the leak and to notify residents of the gas leak as it happened.

"LADWP knew their gas contained toxic chemicals, and yet they still allowed an entire community to breathe the air for years," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney Sylvia Torres-Guillén. "Local residents feel betrayed, and they are deeply concerned about the long term health impact this exposure will have on their families," Torres-Guillén added.

The case is Pueblo y Salud, et al. v. City of Los Angeles' Department of Water & Power, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. 21STCV04346 A copy of the complaint can be found here.

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