Sacramento DA is suing California over leaking underground tanks under the Capitol
Reality check is a Sacramento Bee series that holds public officials and organizations accountable and shines a light on their decisions. Do you have a tip? The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office has sued the California Department of General Services over leaking underground storage tanks beneath several downtown buildings, including the Capitol. The lawsuit was filed jointly by Sacramento County D Attorney Thien Ho and Alameda County D. Attorney Pamela Price. It alleges that these incidents are also occurring in Oakland. The suit was filed to protect public health and the environment from the release of hazardous substances from these storage tanks, which have caused damage to groundwater and surface water, and to cause indoor air impacts. General Services has a history of underground storage tank violations in Sacramento County, with fines totalling tens of thousands of dollars beginning in 2008 and 2009. The violations cited include administrative duties, equipment failure, and material releases.
Published : 4 weeks ago by The Bharat Express News in Politics
Reality check is a Sacramento Bee series that holds public officials and organizations accountable and shines a light on their decisions. Do you have a tip? Email [email protected].
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office has sued a state agency, alleging that storage tanks are leaking hazardous substances beneath several downtown buildings, including the Capitol.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court against the California Department of General Services, alleges the spills are also happening in Oakland. It was filed jointly by Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
Prosecutors filed the lawsuit “to protect public health and the environment from harm resulting from the release of hazardous substances from leaking underground storage tanks, including damage to groundwater and surface water, and from damage from indoor air impacts,” the lawsuit said. court case.
A spokesperson for General Services did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
“(General Services) has an extensive history of underground storage tank violations in Sacramento County,” the lawsuit states, adding that fines totaling tens of thousands of dollars began in 2008 and 2009.
Former Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully sued the state in 2014 over similar issues and a judge issued an injunction, which General Services is now in violation of, the lawsuit alleges.
Many of the violations cited in the lawsuit involve administrative duties such as failure to file inspection reports, while others appear to be more serious and involve equipment failure or material releases.
In January 2020, inspectors from the Sacramento County Department of Environmental Management found that the Department of General Services had failed to install or maintain a “liquid-tight spill container” in the underground storage tanks beneath the Capitol, the lawsuit alleges. During a follow-up inspection in November 2022, the provincial inspector found that the fire extinguishers had not been maintained since May 2019.
Problems with a “liquid-tight spill container” were also noted in 2020 beneath the General Services headquarters at 1416 9th St., the lawsuit alleges.
Last year, an inspection of the Legislative Office Building at 1020 N St. found that hazardous materials, such as acetylene, had been moved there without a permit.
Some of the alleged problems involved overhead equipment.
A 2023 inspection of the California Department of Justice building at 4949 Broadway revealed that there were approximately two gallons of diesel fuel in the diesel submersible turbine pump at the time of the inspection. There was also a small amount of diesel fuel in the transition sump and there was a five-gallon plastic bucket collecting diesel fuel from the above-ground pipe in the generator room,” the lawsuit states. The leak alarm system had not met the requirements for ‘quite some time’.
Last year, an inspection of the Capitol’s 1021 O St. building found an above-ground diesel tank without a county permit, as well as unlicensed compressed gas cylinders, the complaint alleged.
The lawsuit also alleged that Alameda County issued a violation notice to General Services in November 2022 regarding similar uncorrected violations at a state building at 1515 Clay St. in downtown Oakland.
It is not the first time that Ho, who has been a prosecutor since 2023, has sued a government agency. Last year, Ho filed a lawsuit against the city of Sacramento, alleging in part that it does not give homeless people enough tickets when their encampments block sidewalks.
Topics: Lawsuits