Thousands of Fresno residents can sue the city over contaminated water. Do you qualify?
Residents of northeast Fresno are a step closer to seeing the results of a class action lawsuit against the city of Fresno for alleged damages caused by the city’s water delivery system, according to Fresno County Superior Court records.
In early 2016, northeast Fresno residents filed a class action lawsuit against the city of Fresno, alleging that the city’s water ruined their galvanized plumbing, causing iron and other heavy metals to leach into their tap water from the corroded plumbing.
Earlier this month, a court of appeals denied a request from the city to block the class action lawsuit from moving forward. The city of Fresno denies any liability or wrongdoing associated with the claims alleged in the class action lawsuit.
Last week, notices of the lawsuit were made public on the city’s website. Hundreds of residents in northeast Fresno will receive notices in the mail next week.
A jury trial is set to start on July 25, 2022, in the Fresno County Superior Court.
What to know about the class action lawsuit
Starting in early 2016, residents in northeast Fresno started complaining about discolored water coming from the faucets in their homes. In response, the city conducted an “exhaustive” 90-day study, which revealed the problem appeared to have been pinned down: corroding, unwrapped galvanized piping; dissimilar metal corrosion; and soil erosion.
The first of two class action lawsuits was filed in September 2016; the second was filed in May 2017.
In August, a judge granted a motion to certify the class that represents between 1,800 to 2,400 residents, which made the multiple claims more manageable by having only one case instead of dozens of individual lawsuits.
In September, the city of Fresno asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the Superior Court ruling, but was denied.
“We’re very appreciative and grateful for the court making the order that it did and the appellate court allowing that (class action) order to stay in place,” said Stuart Chandler, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, who in August told The Bee that the city was fighting “tooth and nail” to stop the lawsuits from being combined into a class action case.
Northeast Fresno: here’s who is impacted by the class action lawsuit
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 Aug. 2, 2021 and had galvanized iron plumbing, received water service from the city of Fresno and reported discolored “rusty” water at that address to the city.
Chandler said the court also certified two sub-classes — 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 class members who have not obtained water quality test results from the city of Fresno.
Residents that meet these criteria are automatically class members on the lawsuit. No further action is required.
Next week, the city of Fresno will be sending the short-form class notice by mail to the billing addresses of city water customers at single-family residential properties located within ZIP codes: 93710, 93720, and 93730.
For residents that would like to opt out of the class action, the deadline is February 14, 2022. Those who wish to opt out of the lawsuit must mail a completed, signed, and dated Request for Exclusion form to the CPT Group, Inc., at the following address:
Micheli, et al. v. City of Fresno
c/o CPT Group, Inc.
50 Corporate Park
Irvine, CA 92606
This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
