This Lawsuit Could Happen to You

A recent news item highlights once again the dangers much of our stormwater infrastructure can present—and the responsibility we have to protect people from it and, sometimes, from themselves.

A family in Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against Radnor Township for injuries their son suffered five years ago as a result of falling into a stormwater culvert. In 2011, the then-12-year-old boy was playing in a friend’s backyard when he approached and then fell into a pool of water. From the article:

The boy, Logan Schweiter, was attracted to a pool of water created by the Aberdeen Avenue culvert, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Oct. 5 naming Radnor Township as the defendant. Logan fell into the pool and was swept into the Aberdeen Avenue culvert where he was pulled completely underwater into an underground drainage pipe for about a half mile, according to the lawsuit. He was found unconscious in the Ithan Creek behind 403 Meadowbrook Road about a half mile from where he’d entered the water.

Logan was resuscitated and transported to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia but as a result of his near-drowning, Logan was deprived of oxygen, suffered a cardiac arrest, pulmonary edema, aspiration pneumonia, seizures and profound brain damage, the suit said. Diagnosed with severe hypoxic encephalopathy, Logan is in a near-vegetative state and suffers from permanent physical and mental injuries, according to the lawsuit. He requires 24-hour a day nursing and custodial care.

This is a sad situation all around and devastating for the family. Depending on the outcome, the case could set a precedent that other municipalities need to be aware of. The lawsuit contends that the township knew that the culvert was undersized, that it flooded and created a pool of water during large storms, and that children played in the water. Most significantly, the suit cites eight stormwater management studies going back nearly 40 years—from 1973, 1975, 1980, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2005, and 2011—recommending safety improvements that were never carried out.

The best situation, of course, would be for the culvert to have been fixed years ago and for the accident never to have happened, but given limited budgets and other possibly more urgent-seeming priorities, it’s understandable that not every potentially dangerous situation gets addressed. An article in the January/February 2006 issue of Stormwater, “Safety at Urban Stormwater Ponds,” pointed out a number of common risks at stormwater ponds and other facilities and ways to address them. It also noted how nearly a dozen different jurisdictions have addressed such risks in their stormwater manuals. Some basic suggestions: place pond outlets away from public areas like playgrounds and parks if possible, use signage to warn of dangers, and educate the public about possible hazards. The article points out one strategy that might have been particularly helpful in this case: “Owners are advised to periodically observe the facility to ascertain how the public interacts with it. Owners should also consider the comments received from adjoining property owners.”

Some commenters on the Radnor Township case have noted that the wording of the suit is unusual—the family is suing the township not for negligence, but rather for violating the child’s civil rights, or his rights to “life and bodily integrity,” by building and then failing to maintain the culvert. It’s also unclear how much the family is asking for; various articles have reported “more than $150,000,” but that appears to be the minimum amount in this jurisdiction for the suit to be filed in federal court. Given the nature of the injuries and the level of medical care the son requires, the damages could easily be in the millions of dollars. Both of these issues—the specific wording of the suit and the amount—will be significant if the lawsuit establishes a precedent for similar cases in the future.

Continuing Education From Forester U

You can earn PDH/CEU credits for these upcoming webinars from Forester University. As always, if you can’t make the live webinar you can catch it later—and still get continuing education credit for it—by watching it as an on-demand webcast. Click here for a complete list of available webcasts.

October 26—Free webinar

Specifying Engineered Soils for Sustainable Vegetation

Returning speaker Marc S. Theisen of Profile Products shows how to specify Engineered Soil Media as a cost-effective alternative to topsoil, compost, and other conventional organic soil amendments. Topics include testing soil for organic content, selecting proper application rates, calculating the cost benefits, and real-world case studies and research.

Click here for more information and to register.

October 27 and November 3

Selecting Post-Fire BMPs—To Seed or Not to Seed

These are the fourth and fifth sessions in the Fire & Rain: Post-Fire Erosion Control Master Class series, featuring Mike Harding and Julie Etra. You can watch earlier sessions in the series as on-demand webcasts.

Click here for more information and to register.

November 9 – December 16

Sediment and Erosion Control for Roadway Projects Master Class series

Jerald S. Fifield and Tina R. Evans host this advanced, comprehensive nine-part master class and workshop series exploring the ins and outs of effective sediment and erosion control plan design and review for roadway projects.

Click here for more information and to register.

StormCon 2017 Call for Papers Is Open

StormCon, the only North American event dedicated exclusively to stormwater and surface-water professionals, is seeking abstracts for presentation at StormCon 2017, which will take place in Seattle on August 27–31, 2017. The deadline for submitting abstracts is Wednesday, December 7, 2016.