City to sue federal government

Negligence in handling of chemicals reason for suit

The city of Moses Lake has announced its intentions of suing the United States Department of Defense, city manager Joe Gavinski said Monday.

The reason for the $10 million lawsuit, he said, is what he believes is negligence by part of the United States Air Force during the time it had a base in town from 1942 to 1966, in handling engine degreaser trichloroethylene, known as TCE.

TCE is a chemical substance believed to have potential carcinogenic effects, which was found in the city's water supply in the 1980s.

Gavinski said he did not know what the federal government would do when faced with the lawsuit. At press time, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. had not returned the Herald's phone calls.

Brad Marten, the attorney taking the city's case to court said the federal government is currently valuating the claim. "They believe that a number of parties might be responsible and that they are only one of several," he said, adding that the federal government had 60 days to answer the city's claim,which was filed about two weeks ago.

Gavinski said that according to the information several studies have provided the city, it was the actions during the time the Air Force had a base in town what provided the pollution to the water.

"Their (Air Force and Department of Defense) being responsible for that gives raise to the city's claim," he said, adding that the claim was based on government invetigations of the site, under the ultimate authority of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which indicate that discharge of TCE had reached the groundwater.

"Series of studies had led the city to that conclusion," he said. "They (Air Force) were negligent in the way they handled the TCE."

Marten agreed, saying the lawsuit is being brought under federal and state clean up laws as well as state common law, based on a series of what he termed "nuisance and negligence."

The arrival to legal action came, Gavinski said, after years of trying to negotiate a settlement with the departments of defense and justice as well as with the Environmental Protection Agency, to no avail.

"It seems like the federal government as a whole does not want to do anything in terms of the city's claim," he said. "We have tried to negotiate and gotten nowhere."

Instead, Gavinski said, all three agencies were passing the issue on to one another.

When the city found it had TCE in its water, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it went forth with repairing and constructing existing and new wells, directing all sewer and water expenditures towards these efforts. The lawsuit, Gavinski explains is a way to recoup those expenditures.

"The rate-payers paid the bill," Gavinski said, adding that if the courts find in favor of the city, the $10 million will go straight into water and sewer, though it may be years, he noted, before the city sees a penny.

Marten disagreed, saying that there might be a settlement, although it was too early to tell. Nevertheless, he remained optimistic about the city's chances.

"The contamination is well documented," he said. "There is little question that the Air Force is liable for the contamination."

City engineer Gerry McFaul said the city's proactive attitude in constructing and repairing wells had freed the city's water service and wells from TCE.

"There is no TCE in the water the city delivers," he said, noting that many private wells had encountered problems with the carcinogen in recent years. Still, he said, the citizens receiving water from the city systems "had nothing to worry about."