Sewage Backups Prompt St. Clair Shores Class Action Lawsuit

ST. CLAIR SHORES, MI — Three St. Clair Shores residents whose basements filled with sewage and fecal matter during big rains last summer have field a class action suit against the city of St. Clair Shores on behalf of 150 homeowners.

Susan Chadwick, Teresa Davenport and Mark Lysakowsky filed the lawsuit Jan. 12 in Macomb County Circuit Court. According to the complaint, they brought “the action on behalf of themselves and all other city of St. Clair Shores residents who have suffered from flooding and physical invasion of their property by sewage, water, feces, dirt, debris and noxious odors, thereby causing material injury to their properties.”

The lawsuit asks for damages for each of the plaintiffs in excess of $25,000, plus attorney fees.

The plaintiffs, who live on Beste and Elizabeth streets, accuse city officials of failing to update sewer infrastructure, the St. Clair Shores Sentinel reported. Sewer backups were reported on July 8 and Aug. 15-16, according to the lawsuit.

“It’s not sexy to take care of sewage pipes. It’s sexy to take care of the Nautical Mile,” Detroit attorney Steve Liddle, who backed a state law that allows residents to sue the government for sewage backups, told the newspaper.

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Patch file photo