Residents of four San Fernando Valley communities are suing the city of Los Angeles and the Department of Water and Power, alleging that for at least three years the Valley Generating Station leaked gas unabated into the surrounding neighborhoods, jeopardizing the health of those living near the facility.
The proposed class-action complaint was brought Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging the DWP deliberately neglected the facility at the sacrifice of the health and well-being of its neighbors the mostly Latino and Black communities in Sun Valley, Pacoima, Shadow Hills and Arleta.
A representative for the City Attorney’s Office could not be immediately reached for comment.
The DWP knew that those in communities neighboring the Valley Generating Station were being exposed to toxins and foul odors, yet it did nothing to warn its neighbors of those harms, according to the suit.
Despite knowing that gas fumes make people sick, the DWP waited 1,085 days before publicly alerting anyone that the Valley Generating Station had been discharging toxic gases, the plaintiffs allege. The residents received no information, no notice and no warning from the DWP about the noxious gas leakage in 2017, 2018, 2019 or most of 2020, according to the suit.
“DWP knew that people living near the Valley Generating Station were especially vulnerable if exposed to COVD-19 because of the respiratory harm caused by exposure to the gas, and even still, DWP did nothing to notify local residents of potential harms,” the suit alleges. “Everyone knows the simple truth that gas is invisible. DWP knew this truth and violated the public trust by not being transparent about the invisible, toxic leak from its inception and by not stopping the leak.”
Left in the dark, families could not protect themselves, according to the plaintiffs’ court papers, which allege the DWP knew the toxic gas leaking where thousands of people live, go to school and work creates a public nuisance, just as the city alleged SoCalGas created in Porter Ranch with the Aliso Canyon facility gas leak.
Young people have had their educational opportunities thwarted due to their exposure to toxic chemicals from the Valley Generating Station, according to the plaintiffs.
“The impact of the toxic gas on these children had more than a trivial effect,” the suit states. “Children missed school, suffered a lack of concentration while attending school and suffered from other educational impairments.”
The medical and psychological afflictions suffered by the children are significant, all of which interfered with and adversely impacted their right to a public education, according to the suit.