Thousands of Fresno residents with contaminated water can sue city as group, judge says
A Fresno County Superior Court judge has cleared the way for lawyers to represent thousands of northeast Fresno residents who accused the city in 2016 of ruining their pipes and contaminating their drinking water.
Judge Rosemary McGuire granted a motion on Friday to certify the class that represents between 1,800 to 2,400 residents whose city water became discolored and contaminated in 2016.
What McGuire did was make the multiple claims more manageable by having only one case instead of thousands of individual lawsuits.
The residents, lead by Karen and Michael Micheli, allege the city’s water destroyed their galvanized plumbing, causing iron and other heavy metals to leach into their tap water from the corroded plumbing.
What caused the problem?
Experts believe it started after the city began using surface water, treated by the Northeast Fresno Surface Water Treatment Facility, in the water supply, causing a chemical reaction resulting in discolored water and accelerated corrosion in pipes delivering water. That eventually led to the contamination of the municipal water with excessive levels of lead and other toxic substances, according to the lawsuit.
Stuart R. Chandler, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said that while city officials initially acknowledged responsibility and vowed to help the affected homeowners replace their corroded galvanized plumbing, it did not make good on its promise.
Instead, Chandler said, the city has fought “tooth and nail” to stop the lawsuits from being combined into a class-action case.
“What the city was trying to do is to have each homeowner bring an individual claim against the city,” Chandler said. “But that takes a significant amount of time and money.”
The potential cost for replacing the damaged plumbing could run into the “tens of millions,” Chandler said.
“For which the city is insured,” he added. “They have multiple layers of insurance.“
Chandler said it is possible the city could appeal the judge’s ruling. But Sontaya Rose, the city’s communications director, said that decision will be up to the City Council.
“If there is the decision to so appeal, it will be reported out after the closed session meeting. We have not yet determined which council meeting this item will be on the agenda,” she said.
To be included as part of the class action, you must be the owner of residential single-family real property located within the City of Fresno’s Discolored Water investigation area (from E. Copper Avenue to E. Sierra Avenue, and from Highway 41 to N. Willow Avenue).
Also, you must have lived in the area anytime from Jan. 1, 2016 to the present and had galvanized iron plumbing, received water service from the City of Fresno and reported discolored “rusty” water at that address to the city.
Residents who have released their claims against the city cannot be a part of the class action suit.
Chandler said the court also certified two subclasses — one for class members who obtained water quality test results from the city indicating iron at any tested fixture above 0.3 mg/L, and another for xlass members who have not obtained water quality test results from the City of Fresno.
A case management conference is set for Aug. 31 in Dept. 502 in the B.F. Sisk Court, 1130 O Street.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
