Government Entities Sued for Floods of 2014 Sewage Backups

ROYAL OAK, MI – Two Royal Oak residents and one person from Clawson are suing their respective cities and the drainage district that serves them, as well as Oakland County and its water resources commissioner, James Nash, for damages they sustained during the Floods of 2014.

The four entities and Nash were named in separate complaints filed Tuesday in Oakland County Circuit Court by plaintiffs Jill Kotsis and Kevin Gallatin, both of Royal Oak, and Kevin Helme, of Clawson, The Detroit News reports.

The lawsuit is being brought to represent Royal Oak and Clawson residents whose homes were damaged in the Aug. 11, 2014, flash flooding that caused more than $1.1 billion in damages to tens of thousands to homes and businesses.

The plaintiffs allege their homes were inundated with sewage, pollutants, water, feces, dirt and debris because the defendants improperly designed and constructed, maintained and operated the sewer disposal system.

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The plaintiffs’ attorney, David Durban, told The Detroit News that an investigation over the last one and a half years revealed “a number of hydraulic bottlenecks that restricted the water as it moved through the system” in the George W. Kuhn Drainage District.”

“We found several screens failed,” Durbin told the newspaper. “As the flow comes into retention facility the screen removed the solids so they don’t get clogged. There was too much debris and the screens became clogged.”

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The plaintiffs are seeking economic damages in a yet-to-be specified amount.

Attorneys for Clawson and Royal Oak did not return the newspaper’s request for comment, but Keith Lerminiaux, a lawyer for Oakland County, said the flooding resulted from an unprecedented 30-year rain event that hadn’t been forecast.

“We are sympathetic to folks whose property were damaged by the rain, but Oakland County is not responsible for it,” Lerminiaux said. “This is the result of an unfortunate natural disaster.”

Similar actions have been filed by Dubin’s firm against the cities of Oak Park, Madison Heights, Southgate, Wyandotte and Warren.

» The Detroit News has more on this.