A class action lawsuit has been filed against the city for allegedly releasing treated sewage into a nearby creek thereby making drinking water unsafe. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 1,600 Beachwood residents and claims drinking water, soil, and air pollution have rendered the city, about 110 miles southeast of San Francisco, unsafe. People living in the neighborhood claim to have strange, unexplained illnesses.
In 2006, the Beachwood sewage system overflowed. The class action claims the water district illegally released treated sewage into the community's creek to deal with the overflow. Merck owns a plant designed to treat the groundwater near the city. Merck insists homeowners are safe and the company that treats the community's drinking water, as well as the State Water Board, stands by it.
