Freeway Repairs Damaged Homes, Lawsuit Charges

State legislators are investigating how Caltrans secretly spent $21.9 million to fix a sinking portion of the Century Freeway.

Funny, it was never a secret to a group of homeowners in Paramount.

The owners of eight homes are suing Caltrans for damage they say was caused by the freeway erosion and the ensuing repair work.

The homeowners allege that in 1996, Caltrans crews used a pile driver and other heavy equipment eight hours a day for two weeks, causing a bone-rattling vibration that sent cracks through their walls and driveways.

In recent weeks, Caltrans’ handling of the repair project has caught the ire of state legislators, who were angered to learn that the multimillion-dollar job was done without the Legislature’s knowledge.

The plight of the Paramount homeowners has been even farther off lawmakers’ radar.

Left to their own devices, the residents near the troubled freeway are demanding that Caltrans shell out even more money to fix their property.

Their lawsuit accuses Caltrans crews of working in a “careless and negligent manner.” It says the eight homes have suffered at least $33,000 in damage, plus a drop of about 20% in their property values. A court hearing in Compton is scheduled for next month.

Caltrans lawyers reject the suit’s allegations, saying that the heavy equipment used on the freeway was too far from the homes--at least 500 feet away--to cause the damage. They accuse the homeowners of trying to capitalize on the state’s freeway construction woes.

“Some of these people are looking for a big payday,” said Caltrans attorney Raymond Berrera.

Caltrans’ troubles began decades ago when state officials decided to build a segment of the Century Freeway below ground to appease protesting neighbors in Downey and South Gate.

But internal reports show that Caltrans ignored warnings about a shallow aquifer that has undermined a 3 1/2-mile segment.

The freeway opened in 1993, but within two years segments of the pavement began to buckle. Instead of publicly acknowledging that the state’s newest freeway had a major defect, Caltrans began quietly spending millions on underground repairs and on a system of drains and pumps designed to stop the rising water table from undermining the roadway between the Long Beach and San Gabriel River freeways.

A recent Times story revealed the stealth rescue operation that spent $21.9 million since 1995. In response, a legislative committee last week voted to spend $87,750 to investigate the freeway problems.

The damage to the modest single-family homes in Paramount seems relatively minor compared with the millions spent on the $2.2-billion freeway. But the damage is significant to the working-class residents whose homes are the culmination of many years of hard work.

When the earthshaking vibrations from the repair work began three years ago, residents thought it was an earthquake.

But the shaking continued for minutes, then hours. In fact, it went on for nearly eight hours a day for about two weeks.

“It was like a 3.0 magnitude quake that wouldn’t end,” said Theodora “Teddy” Griffin, whose home nearly abuts the freeway.

Marco Briones, a factory worker who lives in a white stucco house that abuts the freeway on Golden Avenue, said he was working two jobs in 1996 to support his wife and six children. He said the noise and vibrations from the pile drivers began at 6 a.m., making it impossible to sleep. The shaking lasted until about 3:30 p.m. every day, including weekends, for about two weeks, he said.

Briones said he joined the lawsuit after he noticed cracks in his walls and driveway. The shelves in his kitchen also dropped noticeably, he said.

“When it hit, you could see the driveway shaking,” he said in Spanish.

He said he is not sure how much it will cost to repair his home. Engineers hired by his lawyer and the state have inspected his house but no one has given him an estimate, he said.

Clarence Lester, a retired worker from the defunct Firestone plant in South Gate, and his wife, Julia, also found several cracks in their walls after the freeway work began.

“This freeway has been a pain in the neck since they built it,” he said.

Griffin, a former security worker who has been the most outspoken homeowner in the lawsuit, said the shaking sent cracks throughout the home she has owned for 25 years, causing dozens of leaks in her plumbing.

She worries that the damage may have undermined the foundation of her home, making it vulnerable to a real earthquake.

But Caltrans lawyers say that they believe many of the cracks were there long before the freeway work began.

“It’s hard to determine exactly all the damage that their homes suffered prior to the construction by the state,” Berrera said. “But our experts have seen cracks that are old.”

Hoping to eliminate another headache for Caltrans, Berrera and other Caltrans lawyers offered to settle the suit last month for a total of $9,500. But the homeowners said the amount won’t even pay to paint the eight damaged homes.

“This is my home,” said Griffin. “This is where I live.”