Lawsuit filed against sanitation district

Dave Brooks

Several Huntington Beach residents have filled a lawsuit against the

Orange County Sanitation District, alleging that a pipeline expansion

project has damaged their homes.

Construction teams have been working to replace the existing

pipeline that runs from the district’s treatment plant in Huntington

Beach along Brookhurst Street, west on Banning Street, north on

Bushard Street and all the way down Ellis Avenue.

The 50 year-old pipe has corroded over time, engineers say, and is

becoming severely degraded. The pipe is now being expanded from 4 1/2

feet to 9 feet in diameter to allow for increased flowing capacity of

sewage materials.

The retrofit has been bogged down with logistical problems,

including interference with public utilities and increasingly

complicated traffic revisions. Cracks in certain areas of the

pipeline have also been discovered, and the district’s subcontractors

are working to seal the problem off.

Now the district faces a lawsuit from residents living along the

pipeline corridor who say that the constant rattling, shaking and

pounding of concrete has damaged their property.

“We have allegations that the project is causing cracking to

homes, exteriors and retaining walls,” said attorney Patrick Catalano

who is representing homeowners in a class action lawsuit.

“The project has also caused severe dewatering in and around the

properties and has damaged some landscape,” he said.

There have also been complaints that the district didn’t do enough

to blanket noises and dust created by the project, he said.

Officials with the Orange County Sanitation District have been

working for months to placate nearby residents, holding resident

meetings and launching a special website with project updates.

Spokesperson Jennifer Cabal could not specifically comment on the

litigation, and would only issue a written statement on the matter.

“OCSD has not seen the lawsuit and is not aware of it being filed.

Therefore we cannot respond at this time,” she wrote.

David Ludwin, director of engineering for the Orange County

Sanitation District said the nature of the work causes vibrations.

“We have to fill in the bottom of the trench and compact the

dirt,” he said. “We are utilizing some heavy equipment in the area

and the potential for problems is there. We’re doing our best to work

with the community on this issue.”

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.