IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) — On Tuesday, a new lawsuit over the sewage crisis was announced. Nine Imperial Beach residents plan to sue the company responsible for operating and maintaining the wastewater treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"This community deserves this. The kids of this community deserve this. All of South San Diego deserves this," personal injury attorney Brett Schreiber said at a press conference along the shore.
The lawsuit would be the third one filed in the region against Veolia Water in just the last year. But Schreiber says this lawsuit is different from the other two that were filed because it's a mass action lawsuit.
According to Schreiber, the mass action lawsuit means everyone who joins the suit has their own individual case of how they have been affected by the sewage crisis. It's not a class action where everything is bundled into one.
"Any one of these residents would not get a response from Veolia if they filed their own case," he said. But if they're brought together as hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, then we can actually start to see some real change."
The suit claims there are more than 500 documented cases of Veolia improperly disposing of sewage.
"This ongoing environmental catastrophe could have and should have been prevented if Veolia had just simply done their job. If any of us had done our jobs as poorly as Veolia has, we would all be fired.
Veolia responded to the claims Tuesday, calling the allegations meritless. In a statement, the company told ABC 10News, "We are currently reviewing this complaint but we can already state that these allegations are meritless. Veolia North America has done its best to help operate the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in the face of increasingly challenging circumstances. The overwhelming cause of the odors and pollution affecting Imperial Beach is the excessive and uncontrolled sewage flows from Tijuana, much of which never even enters the South Bay plant.
In the last 15 years, the population of Tijuana has grown nearly 30%, and infrastructure in the city has not kept pace. This plant was not built to endure these conditions: the uncontrolled flows of wastewater and the damage from mud and debris have overwhelmed the capacity of the plant and impacted its performance. This situation needs to be improved with stronger cross-border collaboration and holistic problem-solving at the local, state and federal levels."
While just nine names are currently listed as plaintiffs on the unstamped lawsuit shared with reporters, Schreiber says he expects more to join.
"This is a human rights issue, and our hope is that by banding together with, starting with dozens, eventually, hundreds and hopefully thousands or even tens of thousands of members of this community, we can use the power and the deterrent effect of the civil justice system to get Veolia to finally do their job."
