SAN DIEGO — A lawsuit was announced Monday on behalf of a group of South Bay residents affected by raw sewage allegedly discharged from the South Bay International Water Treatment Plant and flowing into the waters of southern San Diego County.
The complaint, filed Friday by the Frantz Law Group in San Diego Superior Court, alleges Veolia, which was contracted by the International Boundary and Water Commission to operate, manage and maintain the plant, has failed to prevent hundreds of such sewage discharges over the years.
The California Coastal Commission reported last year that more than 100 billion gallons of transboundary flows have been discharged from Mexico into Southern California over the past five years, and the complaint alleges, "Much of this contamination is directly attributable to the defendants' failures."
"They've caused a failure that's led to 500 illegal discharge incidents in the South Bay Treatment Plant resulting in over a billion gallons of raw sewage being pumped into Tijuana River that flows directly into South Bay and affects the communities in the United States," James Frantz, Frantz Law Group CEO and lead trial counsel said.
Veolia issued a statement in response, saying it has properly maintained the plant and that the U.S. and Mexican governments have failed to fund or implement solutions, such as additional infrastructure to help manage a surge in "unprecedented" sewage flows.
In a separate statement issued last month, Veolia said a population boom in Tijuana has also played a large role in contributing to a volume of transboundary flows the plant wasn't originally designed to handle.
"San Diego's environmental crisis is caused by unprecedented, uncontrolled flows of sewage and debris from Tijuana, and a critical lack of government funding and resources on both sides of the border to repair equipment and build additional capacity," Veolia's statement issued Monday read. "No amount of dishonest rhetoric from opportunistic lawyers can change these facts, and we will defend ourselves against their baseless accusations. Veolia has done an excellent job helping to operate the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant despite these challenges, and we look forward to working with our government partners to help bring about a long-term solution."
The complaint names four people allegedly affected by the pollutants as plaintiffs, but attorneys say they expect "hundreds" of additional plaintiffs in the near future. The Frantz Law Group, which filed the lawsuit, says it is looking into filing additional litigation on behalf of a number of school districts situated in the South Bay.
Along with health concerns -- such as headaches, nausea and respiratory issues -- attorneys said the pollutants have led directly to numerous beach closures, boil water notices and requirements on keeping South Bay schoolchildren indoors in order to prevent exposure to the contaminants.
The complaint states that through the various spills, leaks and discharges of sewage, Veolia is in violation of its state permits under the Federal Clean Water Act.
Frantz said his firm is "seeking significant monetary damages for the community," to include medical monitoring of those exposed to pollutants.
Frantz also said school districts could also potentially seek damages against Veiola.
Frantz said in a statement, "The residents of Imperial Beach are tired of hearing the decades old 'broken promises' of a company knowingly dumping billions of gallons of raw sewage on their beaches and in their estuary causing continuous beach closures, surfers and beachgoers getting sick, as well as individuals and families being constantly subjected to airborne pathogens and noxious odor."
The filing is not a class action suit, but rather a mass tort, meaning plaintiffs that join the suit can have their own individual cases heard and be based on their own medical issues, financial losses or anything that may have come out of the fact that this cross-border contamination and pollution has been going on for years.
Local leaders continue to grapple with the sewage crisis and have sought assistance from the federal government in securing funding to mitigate the sewage flows.
San Diego County and various cities across the county have requested the declaration of a national state of emergency and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted last month to potentially pursue litigation of its own.