PARRIS Law Firm and Bloom Injury Law File Mass Action Lawsuit Against Los Angeles Department of Sanitation Over Hyperion Sewage Spill

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The PARRIS Law Firm and Bloom Injury Law filed today the first mass tort lawsuit on behalf of residents living near El Segundo, CA, against L.A. Sanitation (LASAN) for exposing people to toxic hydrogen sulfide gas (H₂S) and other dangerous toxins during and after the Hyperion Treatment Plant's (Hyperion) massive sewage spill earlier this year.

LASAN's Hyperion Treatment Plant suffered a catastrophic failure on Sunday July 11, 2021 when all debris filtering machines, also known as bar screens, became clogged and inoperable. As a result, at least 72 acres at Hyperion flooded with raw sewage. In an effort to contain the sewage flooding, LASAN released 17 million gallons of untreated wastewater into the Santa Monica Bay. LASAN continued to release improperly treated sewage into the Santa Monica Bay, leading the California Water Board to issue 47 citations between July 17 and August 31.

In reports to the State Water Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, LASAN claimed the sewage overflow was a result of excessive trash in the sewer system from an unknown source. But responsible monitoring would have identified both the volume and source of any debris before it reached Hyperion. Officials have yet to identify either.

The complaint alleges the sewage spill was caused by defective bar screens that were designed to be run through an automatic control system that proved to be unreliable. Named as one of the defendants is Murray Plumbing and Heating Corporation, which installed the bar screens and the automatic control system in 2019.

The Plaintiffs allege that LASAN knew the automatic control system (essentially, the "auto-pilot" feature of the bar screen) was unreliable in 2019, but chose to operate the bar screens in manual mode on fast-forward with no additional oversight added for these faster speed operations.   

Hyperion's bar screens failed before the flood in April 2021, and managers should have known a catastrophe was inevitable. LASAN documents also show a 23% increase in problems with the smaller screens since installation in 2019. Following the malfunctions in April, LASAN's general manager resigned.

Even on July 11, the day of the sewage spill, there were multiple alarms, but none of those alarms appeared to go to the one employee physically present at Hyperion's Headworks. LASAN instead expected that employee to (1) manually operate the bar screen system and (2) visually monitor every aspect of operations at the Headworks including the bar screens. It is unclear who, if anyone at LASAN, knew of those early warnings.

"This is a massive raw sewage spill from one of the world's largest water treatment facilities," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney Alexander R. Wheeler. "The warning signs were glaring leading up to the spill, and now El Segundo residents are paying the price for LASAN's disregard for public safety."

Hydrogen sulfide is one of many gases created during the decomposition of organic materials in sewage. It is produced at virtually every point in sewage treatment and is a leading cause of death to workers in sanitary sewer systems. Hydrogen sulfide creates the well-known "rotten egg" smell that people notice from sewage treatment. Even at low levels, hydrogen sulfide irritates the nose, throat, and eyes and causes headaches, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. The noxious odors and emissions from the sewage spill led the South Coast Air Quality Management District to issued 39 notices of violation.

"L.A. Sanitation knows how dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas can be, and yet they did nothing to protect people from the exposure," said attorney Mark Bloom of Bloom Injury Law. "Even with all of the warning signs, LASAN failed to invest in meaningful repairs after the bar screens clogged not once, but twice."

The complaint highlights numerous instances where the health of residents was put at risk, where warning signs were ignored, and where mismanagement seemed to be a pattern at the facility. 

"There was a clear void of leadership at Hyperion long before Hyperion flooded with raw sewage," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney Patricia K. Oliver. "After the malfunction in April of 2021, the Director of L.A. Sanitation – Enrique C. Zaldivar, P.E. – quit, and L.A. Sanitation replaced him with Barbara Romero who had no engineering background. And on July 11, 2021, the screens had their worst failure yet," Oliver added.

In the first two weeks after the spill, LASAN failed to test for hydrogen sulfide, and when testing began on July 26, LASAN only tested for hydrogen sulfide during the day when results would be at their lowest. But even still, LASAN's test results were alarming. Hydrogen sulfide levels tested at 657 ppb near the southern end of Hyperion, which was 21.9 times higher than 30 ppb, the amount set by the state of California for acute health impacts over one hour. 657 ppb is 130.8 times higher than the 5.02 ppb set by the World Health Organization as the levels known to cause odor irritations over 30 minutes.

 "Zero leadership, zero support, and zero guidance – this is what L.A. Sanitation offered the residents whose health and well-being were put at risk because of LASAN's carelessness," said attorney Mark Bloom.

The case is Katarina Abdelnur , et al. v. City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, L.A. Sanitation & Environment, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. 22STCV00153. To read the complaint, click here.

About PARRIS Law Firm
The PARRIS Law Firm is a premier personal injury and environmental law firm representing individuals who have suffered injuries resulting from exposure to all manner of dangerous chemicals and toxins. PARRIS has achieved multiple eight and nine-figure verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients and aggressively works to obtain justice. To learn more about the firm, please go to: www.parris.com.

About Bloom Injury Firm
Bloom Injury Law is a leading California law firm specializing in personal injury and employment discrimination litigation. Founding attorney Mark Bloom has a decade of experience litigating high-stakes cases in trial courts, federal courts, and courts of appeal, securing multiple multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts for clients. Learn more about Bloom Injury Law here.

Contact

Dante Hickles 661.949.2595 | [email protected] 

SOURCE PARRIS Law Firm