L.A. to pay $60 million to victims of Sun Valley methane leak

For years, many residents in the working-class, mostly Latino communities of Sun Valley and Pacoima thought they were going crazy as doctors were unable to figure out why they were plagued with frequent headaches, nausea and nosebleeds.

It turns out they were being gaslighted.

Staff at the L.A. Department of Water and Power hid their knowledge of a long-standing methane gas leak at the utility’s Valley Generating Station for at least a year. Lawyers allege they hid it for several years.

Now, seven years after elevated methane levels were first detected at the station, some 1,200 people who lived, worked or went to schools nearby will share in a $59.9-million settlement reached with the city, according to information provided by the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

A lawsuit was filed against the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power on behalf of residents in December 2020. It alleged that the DWP failed to adequately inspect or repair equipment, or to notify residents of leakages during the 1,085-day period when community members were potentially exposed to methane and other toxic chemicals.

Although a full settlement agreement has yet to be reached, Jason Fowler, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Times that his law firm was notified that the DWP board and the L.A. City Council had signed off on the $59.9-million settlement figure as of Nov. 6.

“This is a community of hard-working families, and they were ignored for years,” he said. “People were complaining of headaches, nausea, none of them knew where it was coming from — nobody knew other than the LADWP.”

“For an underserved community, I think this [settlement figure] shows that no longer will they be undervalued,” he continued, “and it definitely brings at least the start of justice to this community.”

The DWP says repairs to the power plant that lies between Sun Valley and Pacoima were completed in 2020.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Fowler said the division of money was still being worked out under the settlement agreement, which he anticipates being finalized by the end of the year and approved in court around six to eight months later.

A DWP spokesperson said the utility had reached a settlement in principle but noted that the settlement was not final and that the utility generally does not comment on ongoing litigation.

The spokesperson also pointed out that the utility completed repairs on all affected equipment at its Valley Generating Station in 2020. DWP shares real-time monitoring of methane levels at the station in an online dashboard, which has shown no leaks since modified packing seals were installed in December 2020, the spokesperson said.

The Valley Generating Station is located on 150 acres in the San Fernando Valley between the communities of Sun Valley and Pacoima and generates electricity for Greater Los Angeles by burning natural gas.

According to the complaint, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory first detected gas being emitted by the station in September 2017 and notified the utility. DWP staff have previously said that JPL didn’t alert them right away but waited until later aerial surveys showed the leak had worsened.

DWP staff first notified the public, and its own Board of Commissioners, about the methane leak in an August 2020 meeting, despite having determined a full year earlier that there was leakage because of a worn seal. One utility staffer said in 2020 that the plant’s compressor units had been leaking gas “for the last couple years.”

Andres Ramirez, policy director of Pacoima Beautiful, stands before graffiti scrawled at the power plant in September 2020.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

General manager Marty Adams told the DWP board in August 2020 that the utility had a plan in place to fix the compressors later in the year but decided to go public because JPL had detected the leak as part of an aerial survey, and “their information is getting more publicized.”

The lawsuit complaint alleges that, after the leak became public knowledge in 2020, the utility deliberately delayed measuring methane levels to conceal the extent of the problem.

“Testing took place only after defendant initiated repairs at the station,” states the complaint. “To mask the true levels of gas emissions and create a misleading optic, defendant deliberately avoided testing during the periods of peak emission.”

In January 2021, the South Coast Air Quality Management District gave the utility a notice of violation over equipment identified as the source of the multiyear methane leak. The utility responded to the violation with a statement saying all necessary repairs had been completed and the leakage had stopped.

Methane gas can have serious health effects and is 86 times as potent as carbon dioxide.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit reported suffering numerous health problems, including shortness of breath, headaches, confusion, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, seizures, decreased coordination, drowsiness, visual disturbances, depression, anxiety, inability to sleep, allergies, seizures and asthma, according to the complaint.

“This remarkable settlement will bring much needed relief and justice to these overlooked communities who were continuously poisoned for years,” said attorney R. Rex Parris in a statement. “We are proud of the results and for holding the city accountable for this catastrophe.”

Times staff writer Sammy Roth contributed to this report.