State High Court to Hear Power Lines Suit

The state Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a San Clemente couple’s lawsuit claiming that a utility company’s power lines running near their property destroyed the value of their home.

In an action that could affect other lawsuits around the state, the court majority voted to hear the case brought in 1993 by Jean and Martin Covalt against San Diego Gas & Electric Co., which owns three miles of high-voltage lines that run above their former home in the Mariner’s Point community here.

The Covalts’ suit maintained that they should be compensated by the utility company because the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated by the wires were a perceived threat that scared off potential home buyers.

The Covalts eventually lost their 5,000-square-foot home to foreclosure. They could not be reached for comment Thursday.

A state appellate court in March sided with the utility and dismissed the suit, saying that questions of power line safety were matters that should be heard by the state Public Utilities Commission, not the state court system.

Fred Schenk, a San Diego-based attorney for the Covalts, called the Supreme Court decision to disagree with the appellate court “fantastic news” that will allow families due process of law.

“The decision is the right one,” Schenk said. “It tells the utilities they don’t automatically have the right to avoid court and have to be accountable just like everyone else has to be.”

Greg Barnes, a lawyer for SDG&E;, said he was confident the Supreme Court would come to the same conclusion as the appeals court and that there is no scientific evidence that the lines cause health problems. The lines are similar to distribution lines in any neighborhood, Barnes said.

“These attorneys are promoting the fear (of EMFs), mounting a public relations campaign and then trying to collect for it,” Barnes said. “The idea that EMF affects the market value simply isn’t selling.”

When the Covalts purchased the property in the hills of south San Clemente, near Camp Pendleton, there was a string of single poles with seven 12,000-volt lines running behind their home. The utility later added another pole and four more lines, a move that the Covalts called “a taking” of their property that must be compensated.

“If SDG&E; wants to put the new lines up there, fine, but they have to pay the Covalts for it,” Schenk said. “Eventually, nobody wanted to come in and buy the home.”