CARSON, Calif. (KNX) — Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit against 10 defendants Thursday, alleging each played a role in the foul odor that lingered over neighborhoods in and around the Dominguez Channel last Fall.
The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, is against tenants and property owners of the warehouse in Carson where a massive fire released illegally-stored chemicals into the Dominguez Channel and created hydrogen sulfide gas odors that ultimately caused the public nuisance, the county said in a statement.
Liberty Property Limited Partnership, which owns the warehouse, and its parent company, Prologis Inc. are defendants in the case. They, along with their tenants, are accused of being aware that hazardous materials and a serious fire danger were present at the site - and the county feels they should have “taken steps to prevent the dangerous conditions that led to the fire, but failed to do so.”
The resulting odor was ultimately determined to be caused by materials that entered the storm drain following the fire, resulting “in the creation of hydrogen sulfide gas that significantly impacted thousands of County residents,” the county said, explaining that many impacted had to relocate or purchase HVAC systems due to severe side effects from the gas - costing the county and its Flood Control District “tens of millions of dollars.”
The lawsuit seeks to recover the costs and “obtain injunctive relief and civil penalties” for the public nuisance, the unlawful business practices and the violations of hazardous waste and other laws,” according to a Thursday statement.
"Today's lawsuit filing is critical to our ongoing efforts to seek accountability for the thousands of residents in Carson and its surrounding communities that endured —for several weeks— the stench that emanated from the Dominguez Channel," Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Holly J. Mitchell said.
“The property owners responsible for this must pay for their unlawful business practices that cost the County millions in damages and aid and more importantly, inflicted physical and mental harm on our residents."
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