Landslide Victims Settle for $1.5 Million
A $1.5-million settlement agreement has been hammered out for six homeowners on Lodestone Drive whose backyards were damaged by a 1995 landslide.
The slide occurred after heavy El Nino rains soaked the hillside above Lodestone Drive, creating unstable soil that eventually broke a city sewer line, said Jim O’Callahan, an attorney for the homeowners. After the landslide, some of the loose soil poured into backyards but no sewage reached homes, he said.
Before the slide, the sewer line had been relocated to accommodate a new development of homes on Stone Ridge Drive above Lodestone Drive.
Three groups have agreed to the settlement--the city of Los Angeles, the Stone Ridge Homeowners Assn., and a set of contractors and subcontractors. Each will pay about one-third or $500,000 of the total.
The Los Angeles City Council approved its share of the payment last week; a final approval from the mayor is needed, city officials said.
As part of the work, more than 100 feet of the sewer line will be repaired and moved to a more geologically stable location, O’Callahan said. That work may begin as early as next month, he said.
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