Tucson, AZ: (Aug-11-07) A class action lawsuit was brought against the city and the county stemming from the rupture of a sewer line near Speedway Boulevard and Grande Avenue in 2002. The suit claimed that local residents Martha Ponce, Jose Cardenas, Oscar Gamaz, and Dolores and Tony Yrigolla suffered economic losses, personal injuries, inconvenience, property damage, evacuation costs, and other damages as a result of the break in the sewer line.
In a proposed settlement, the plaintiffs stand to receive $250,000. After legal fees, more than $155,000 would be split among them. This is the second settlement the city and the county have agreed to in the matter of the sewer rupture. In March 2007, the city and county agreed to pay $60,350 to 72 business owners in a separate lawsuit. Both lawsuits were filed in Maricopa County.
Sources claim that officials learned of the sewer rupture after two large sinkholes appeared in Speedway near the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind on Sept. 7, 2002. Thirty families were evacuated, and portions of Speedway were closed for more than a month while crews drained the sinkholes and repaired the break. Legal counsel in the recent case is seeking more residents to take part in the settlement. To be eligible, they must have lived in the vicinity of the break in September 2002. [TUCSON CITIZEN: SEWER LINE BREAK]
