DAs sue state over contamination at 3rd District court

The district attorneys of Alameda and Sacramento counties sued the state of California for alleged leakage contamination from state-owned underground storage tanks.Alameda’s Pamela Price and Sacramento’s Thien Ho claim the state’s Department of General Services failed to comply with a judgment one of Ho’s predecessors won a decade ago.

The claims illustrate that governments, not just private entities, can face “cradle-to-grave” liability under federal and state environmental laws. The properties where the alleged violations took place include the State Capitol and the office of the 3rd District Court of Appeals.

“Plaintiff, the People of the State of California, brings this law enforcement action to protect public health and the environment from harm due to releases of hazardous substances from leaking Underground Storage Tanks (UST’s), including harm to groundwater and surface waters and against harm from indoor air impacts,” wrote Sacramento Deputy District Attorney Lisa Brown in the complaint filed Tuesday. “Plaintiff also brings this action to protect public health and the environment from harm due to the unlawful mismanagement of hazardous waste and hazardous materials.”

The department did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Ho’s office declined to comment because the case is pending. People of the State of California v. Department of General Services, 24CV006183 (Sac. Super. Ct., filed April 2, 2024).

The complaint follows a series of inspections carried out at state-owned properties between 2018 and 2022. The Sacramento County Environmental Management Department found a series of violations at buildings in and around downtown Sacramento. These include failures to maintain tanks and leak detection systems at the State Capitol, Department of Justice offices, the California State Museum, the California Energy Commission building and the State Library and Courts Building, home to the 3rd District. Among the problems found was a failure to maintain and properly store compressed gas and diesel fuel. Several of the buildings hold large diesel tanks, some of them holding more than 1,000 gallons.

Two of the properties identified in the complaints, offices for the state Department of Public Health and the Department of Social Services, were the subject of a successful suit by then-Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully. Over a decade after inspections found problems at these facilities, the state has failed to conduct safety tests and maintain proper records, in violation of a 2014 judgment. People of the State of California v. Department of General Services, 24CV006183 (Sac. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 2, 2014).

That case resulted in the department paying a $265,000 settlement plus attorneys’ fees. It has also paid tens of thousands of dollars in administrative penalties for past violations at several of these buildings.

The Alameda County Department of Environmental Health also found the department failed to maintain permits, records and training around hazardous materials at the Elihu Harris State Building in downtown Oakland.

The complaint claims the department violated several state and federal laws. This includes the “cradle to grave” responsibility to safely maintain hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a federal law passed in 1976. It also seeks damages and an injunction requiring the department to comply with several state laws governing hazardous materials and storage tanks.