Source: http://www.toledoblade.com, October 16, 2011
By: Nolan Rosenkrans
A group of West Toledo residents has filed a class-action lawsuit against a contractor and an engineering firm they claim caused water and sewage damage to their homes and businesses during an August storm.
The case, filed Friday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court by more than 30 people in the Five Points area, claims negligence by both Gleason Construction Co. and URS Corp. caused storm water to overflow sewage systems on Aug. 18 and to flow from streets onto properties.
About 100 houses were affected by the flooding, attorney Daryl Rubin said, with damage averaging about $25,000 a house. Basement walls at the Pour House bar collapsed.
“This is something that’s been an ongoing problem,” Mr. Rubin said. “Apparently nothing has been done to really prevent this type of damage to people in this area.”
A representative for Gleason, which has its offices in Holland, said the company had no knowledge of the lawsuit. A representative for URS Corp., a national company with offices in Cleveland, said no one would be available to comment until Sunday.
The litigation focuses on two allegations of failure by the two firms. According to the complaint, URS conducted a 2008 study for the city that evaluated the area’s sanitary and storm sewer system and noted significant weaknesses.
Meanwhile, the city contracted with Gleason to work on the system, and Gleason was put in charge of managing sanitary sewer flows. The suit alleges that despite knowledge of the system’s weaknesses, Gleason did not have employees on site on Aug. 18 and did not take appropriate measures to mitigate flooding, such as pumping water into temporary wells or tanker trucks, or unblocking storm drains.
The suit alleges that URS incorrectly noted several vented manholes as solid. These vented manholes, which could have been covered, allowed storm water into the sewage system, causing water and sewage to overflow. Mr. Rubin said that although the storm water and sewage systems are the city’s, the city was not included as a defendant because the damage was caused by the contractor’s and the engineering firm’s negligence.
West Toledo residents have repeatedly complained about flooding from the city’s sewage and storm water systems. In 2006, more than 80 sued the city and several private businesses, accusing them of poor design and/or neglect of the Shantee Creek drain system, which caused major flooding in the area.
That case is still in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. The city moved for summary judment this summer.
Lawyers involved in the most recent case have scheduled an informational meeting for residents Thursday at 7 p.m. at the United Auto Workers Local 14 union hall, 5411 Jackman Rd.