Tuesday, February 24, 2015

AT LEAST 13 SPEARFISH, SOUTH DAKOTA RESIDENTS ARE SUING THE CITY, CLAIMING ITS NEGLIGENCE IN MAINTAINING THE SEWERS LED TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGES TO THEIR HOMES







FEBRUARY 23, 2015

SPEARFISH, SOUTH DAKOTA

Sluggish sewers, smelly backups and insurance squabbles have led 13 local residents to file lawsuits against the City of Spearfish, claiming its negligence led to tens of thousands of dollars in damages to their homes.

Stretching back to 2008, some residences near Eighth and Hudson streets have sustained a series of backups, as recently as last October, that have flooded basements with raw sewage and stormwater, leaving in its wake stinking messes, lost possessions and frustrated homeowners.

Because the lawsuits are still active, Spearfish City Attorney Tom Brady declined to respond to the specific cases. But he cautioned that the city is not necessarily liable for any damage caused by an infrastructure problem.

In an email, Brady wrote: "Backups do and will occur which is the very nature of a sanitary system. Users of the system have risk. Such an event may be as the result of the condition or location of their service line or some other cause for which the city is not responsible. All homeowners can insure against such risk, which many do, and unfortunately some do not.”

One couple, Jennifer and Adrian Netterberg, bought their first home at 320 E. Hudson St. in 2007 and renovated their basement to allow for an apartment and a source of extra income. Soon after the first tenants moved in, the Netterbergs received a phone call on June 6, 2008, informing them that their basement apartment was flooding.

“It was bad, really bad,” Jennifer Netterberg recalled on Monday. “This was sewage water with a mixture of stormwater too. There were leaves in it, and it stunk horribly.”

They immediately called their insurance company and ran a camera down the floor drain to determine if a clog or tree roots were the cause of the backup.
“The line was completely clear,” Jennifer Netterberg said. “So we contacted the city and filed a claim for the damage, but they told us there wasn’t anything they could do. They sent an insurance adjuster over, but then they claimed they had no liability.”

As the Netterbergs re-renovated the damaged basement and argued over liability with the city and its insurance carrier, the sewage backups occurred again in May and October 2013, leaving the couple with more damage and renters who decided to move out.

All told, the Netterbergs say they have suffered $40,000 in damages to their home in the three incidents.

Down the road at 644 N. 8th St., the Netterbergs’ neighbor, Pete Davis, said Monday his 1926 Swiss chalet-style house had sustained $25,000 in damages in a May 2013 backup that left 3 inches of raw sewage throughout his 1,000-square-foot basement.

“It left a huge mess and basically destroyed the bottom half of anything associated with the walls,” Davis said. “It destroyed the woodwork, the trim and damaged personal items. The carpet was ruined, the vinyl flooring was unusable, and for us and our teenage sons, it was quite disruptive.”
When a second sewer backup occurred in October 2013, Davis and his wife, Jacqueline Wyatt, spoke with city representatives who told them the city was not liable for their damage.

“We really want to just get compensated for our loss so we can pay for the repairs,” Davis, a retired chemist, said. “And, we want the city to own up to the fact the infrastructure was rotten, and that they basically denied it. Probably the thing that has been most infuriating is the city’s denial of any wrongdoing. They seem to be spending an enormous amount of money on legal fees instead of just compensating homeowners. They could have paid us out instead of paying attorneys.”

The Netterbergs and Davis are among a growing list of Spearfish residents who have gone beyond accepting the city’s denial of liability and have hired a Rapid City attorney to gain satisfaction.

That attorney, John Fitzgerald, said he represents 13 plaintiffs whose eight Spearfish residences sustained significant damage as the result of negligence on the part of the city in maintaining adequate sewer lines within the city. Fitzgerald said Monday afternoon that the issue, slated for trial on July 22 in Fourth Judicial Circuit Court in Deadwood, is relatively simple.

“The Eighth Street sewer line is too small,” Fitzgerald said. “Our expert will show the jury that this particular sewer line has a capacity for 1,000 gallons per minute of fluid. In the dead of winter or on Dec. 10, 2014, there was 800 gallons per minute of fluid going through that line. So there is a margin of 200 gallons per minute until that line is at full capacity. If it receives more than 200 gpm in inflow or infiltration, it will back up.”

Fitzgerald said his hydrologists had found that rain water and snow melt were infiltrating the sewer line, rather than being captured by the city’s storm-sewer system.
“Many experts have reviewed this, and we know of infiltration in excess of 200 gpm,” he said, adding, “It’s too small of a line to accommodate for mistakes, for neglect, and for problems with the sewer line.”

While Fitzgerald declined to discuss the total amount his clients seek in damages from the city, he said the lawsuits seek more than money.
“More than anything," he said, "the plaintiffs in this lawsuit want their lives to return to normal.”

Although Brady, the city attorney, wouldn't comment directly on the lawsuits, he wrote in his email that the city had hired HDR Engineering to perform a study of the sewer line in question, had smoke-tested much of the city sewer system, and had installed a bypass line last year to redirect some of the flow from the Eighth Street sewer line.

He wrote: “Whenever there is any event involving city infrastructure (whether it is the streets, water system, sanitary sewer system, storm sewer system, sidewalks, parks or whatever), the staff of Spearfish, who are exceptionally qualified and dedicated individuals, take appropriate measures to determine the cause and to implement a plan of action to remediate the circumstance if reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.”

As attorneys in the sewer lawsuits prepare for trial, the Netterbergs are attempting to clean up a lingering mess, raise their 1- and 4-year-old boys, and fill their still-vacant downstairs apartment.

“This is our first house," Jennifer Netterberg said, "and it hasn’t been a great experience for us.”

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COPING WITH SEWER BACKUPS
GENERAL INFORMATION: A sewer backup creates a stressful and emotional
situation for the homeowner/renter. In some cases it may cause health and safety concerns as well as significant property loss.  A proper response to a sewer backup can greatly minimize property damage and diminish the threat of illness.

The City of Spearfish makes every effort to be responsive to residents' needs and concerns when a sewer backup occurs. The City has a crew whose duty is to inspect, clean and maintain sewers on a daily basis during the months when weather allows.  Unfortunately, because a sewer is not a closed system, many things put into the sewer can clog the system.  Large amounts of grease from restaurants, disposable (and cloth) diapers, and tree roots are common items that cause problems. While The City has adopted rules prohibiting the discharge of any substance likely to cause a sewer obstruction, and can try to educate the public about the problems they cause, there is really no way we can absolutely prevent this from happening.

Many homeowners' insurance policies exclude damage resulting from sewer backups. However, some insurance companies do provide sewer backup coverage. If you are concerned about the possibility of a sewer backup and want to insure that you are covered, the City of Spearfish urges you to check with your home insurer regarding the availability of sewer backup insurance.

CONTACT INFORMATION: If you experience a sewer problem, please call the City of Spearfish Public Works Department at 642-1333 from 7am-4pm Monday through Friday or the Police Department at 642-1300 after hours and weekends and state that you are reporting a sewer emergency.  Backed up sewer lines, line breaks, sewage odors, and overflowing manholes are considered an emergency.

If the problem is in the sewer lateral, the homeowner or business is responsible for correcting the problem.  The owner of the property is responsible for maintaining and cleaning the sewer lateral from the building (or home) to the sewer main, including the connection on the sewer main. Locating the lateral is

also the responsibility of the property owner.  Several plumbers also have special
locating equipment, which will be helpful.

If the problem is in the sewer lateral, whom do you call for help?  You will need to call a plumber or sewer/drain cleaning service.  Please check your Yellow Pages; the City cannot make a recommendation.  It may be in your best interest to obtain more than one estimate.

REMEMBER TO CALL THE CITY FIRST before calling a plumber.  We will check the sewer main and inform you of our findings. If the problem is not in the main line sewer, you will be advised to contact a plumber or sewer/drain cleaning service.

LATERAL vs. MAIN: What is a sewer lateral?  A sewer lateral or house lateral is the pipe line between the sewer main, usually located in the street, and the building.  The sewer lateral is owned and maintained by the property owner including any part, which may extend into the street or public right of way.

More often than not, the cause of a backup in your lateral is from items that the line is not meant to handle, such as kid's toys, underwear, towels, diapers, paper products (other than toilet paper), keys and even false teeth. To avoid flushing these items, remember to close the toilet lid. What you flush down the toilet may not affect you, but it might cause problems for your neighbors! Another possible cause would be roots in your lateral.  The lateral is the responsibility of the owner of the property from the house to the street.

WAYS TO PREVENT BACKUPS IN YOUR LATERAL AND THE MAIN LINE
SEWER: The property owner can do many things to prevent the lateral from backing up.  Remember too, that the very same things can help to prevent backups in the sewer main as well. If everyone would be careful about how they dispose of certain products, our systems would be a great deal more efficient, cause fewer backups, cost us all less money, and prevent a lot of misery.
Grease: Cooking oil should be poured into a heat-resistant container and disposed of, after it cools off, in the garbage, not the drain. Some people assume that washing grease down the drain with hot water is satisfactory.  This grease goes down the drain, cools off, and solidifies either in the drain, the property owner’s line, or in the main sewer.  When this happens, the line constricts, and eventually clogs.

Paper Products: Paper towels, disposable and cloth diapers and feminine products cause a great deal of problems in the property owner's lateral as well as in the sewer main. These products do not deteriorate quickly, as does bathroom tissue.  They become lodged in portions of the lateral/main, causing a sewer
backup.  These products should also be disposed of in the garbage.