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LOGAN -- It's been six months since a canal in Logan collapsed, sending mud and water into a home below that killed a mother and her two children. The first legal paperwork has been filed in the case, paving the way for a possible lawsuit.
It's a 7-page notice of claim on behalf of Antonio Ortiz, filed by Salt Lake City-based attorney Colin King. Ortiz is the father of the woman who was killed and the grandfather of the two children.
King claims Logan city leaders knew about the leaking canal and the potential of it collapsing, yet did nothing to warn residents.
"This was a preventable thing and it should've been prevented," says King. "It's a tragedy they didn't do something as simple as go out there and warn those folks."
The canal collapsed in July of 2009, killing 43-year-old Jacqueline Leavey, her 13-year-old son Victor Alanis and her 12-year-old daughter Abbey Alanis. Their house was on Canyon Road, right below where the canal collapsed on a hillside.
King says the notice of claim against Logan city means a lawsuit is pending.
"The city itself, the city council, talked about the problems at the canal and the mayor recognized this," says King. "Researchers from Utah State University looking at the canal before the collapse said it's not a question of if, it's a question of when."
In the legal paperwork, King writes: "Studies conducted in 1978, 2003, 2005 and 2008 by Kaliser and Klauk, Cache County, Golder and Associates and Utah State University concluded that there existed a high hazard of future landslides on Logan Bluff."
King also notes the stability of the slope above Canyon Road "became a regular topic at Logan City Council meetings" after a major slide in September of 2005, which took place close to where the July 2009 collapse happened.
After the 2005 slide, King says "the slide required 300 truckloads to remove debris from the site, including the yard and basement of the residence" near where that slide happened along Canyon Road.
In May of 2009, King says Logan City Mayor Randy Watts said during a city council meeting that water was still leaking from the canal due to cracks in the canal wall.
On July 8 of 2009, just three days before the collapse, King says a woman who lives on Canyon Road said water was coming into the road and was blocking her driveway. That woman called Logan City several times to complain about water leaking from the canal.
At one point, when she kept calling, King says a city employee was instructed to "inform her that Logan City could not help because the water was suspected to be from a private irrigation line."
"For the city to say we couldn't do anything to help these people because it was on private property is pathetic," says King. "That's like them saying there was an assault or rape in somebody's home here, but we can't do anything because it's on private property. That's ridiculous."
Through a city spokesperson, Logan Mayor Randy Watts said Saturday, "We have received the paperwork and our city attorney will review this case. Since litigation is pending, we can't comment on it at this time."
King says there is no excuse for the collapse. "This was a high, high likelihood to happen, and it's a tragedy they stood by and did nothing," he says.
The claim says damages are difficult to calculate, but it's estimated to be at least a $2 million lawsuit.
Logan City has 60 days to respond.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
