More than 1,200 plaintiffs in Sun Valley and Pacoima will share in a nearly $60 million settlement to cover their claims the residents were exposed to a gas leak at the Department of Water and Power’s Sun Valley Generating Station, the plaintiffs’ attorneys announced on Thursday, Nov. 21.
The Los Angeles Superior Court suit was brought in February 2021 and alleged the DWP put the largely Latino- and Black-populated community’s health at risk when the utility did not prevent the Valley Generating Station from leaking gas. Impacted residents complained of headaches, bloody noses, shortness of breath and nausea.
The plaintiffs alleged the DWP failed to perform adequate equipment inspections and notify residents of possible gas leaks as they happened. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Patricia K. Oliver said the overall $59.9 million settlement will bring relief and justice to overlooked communities who she said were continuously poisoned for years.
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“Our litigation showed that LADWP put the Sun Valley community’s health at risk and we are grateful that the city is finally stepping up to provide residents with much needed relief,” according to Oliver.
In their court papers previously filed with Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl, attorneys for the city argued that wind could have caused an alleged gas plume to travel in varying directions and distances at different times throughout the year. In addition, distances from any affected location to the station could greatly vary among the claimed 30,000 individuals in the three-mile geographic area surrounding the facility, the city lawyers contended in their pleadings.