San Gabriel Valley : WATER TORTURE
San Marino residents are suing a water district to stop construction of three large drinking water tanks until an environmental review assesses the dangers of placing them so close to homes and San Marino High School.
“They’re planning to put millions of gallons on a plain above our high school that sits 325 yards from the Raymond Fault without an environmental impact report,” Gerald Knudson, a plaintiff and attorney, said Wednesday. “We have a seismologist from Caltech who said the district has not done enough analysis.”
The recently filed lawsuit is the second against the San Gabriel County Water District’s $10-million project to build three concrete tanks the size of a couple of basketball courts. The water district delayed construction in May after the city of San Marino sued, asking for an environmental review, and began settlement talks.
But concerned about the pace of negotiations, residents filed their own lawsuit, questioning the lack of proper notice on the project and whether the 4.2-million-gallon tank and two 6-million-gallon tanks can withstand a major earthquake.
Officials at the water district that serves customers in San Gabriel, Rosemead and Temple City say the tanks are designed to survive an earthquake greater than the Northridge quake.
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