County inWash. may not be liable
Victims could be left with one lessway to receive compensation.
seattle » The warnings could hardly have been clearer. One technical report told of the “potential for a large catastrophic failure” of the 600-foot hillside above a rural neighborhood near Oso, on the Stillaguamish River. Another noted plainly that it “poses a significant risk to human lives and private property.”
The dangerwas so apparent that SnohomishCounty officials mulled buying out the properties of the residents who lived there.
Instead, the county continued to allow the construction of homes nearby. Seven went up even after a significant slide approached the neighborhood in 2006.
Whatever the wisdom of its decision, the county might never be held liable in court for not doing more to protect residents, an outcome that would leave victims of last month’s devastating landslide one less avenue for recovering financially for their damages.
Whether government agencies or landowners can be held liable for damages caused by landslides in Washington state is highly dependent on the facts of each case.
Generally, governments are not liable except in narrow circumstances, such as if an agency specifically tells the residents they’re safe before a slide, or if an agency takes it upon itself to fix a hazard but actually makes things worse.
“This is a terrible tragedy and still very fresh. But it is nonetheless my concern that people turn to the government as the insurer of last resort,” said David Bruce, a Seattle lawyerwho represents governments in landslide-liability cases. “The fact of the matter is that in the Puget Sound basin and the foothills of the Cascades, there’s a tremendous amount of landslideprone areas. The government isn’t here to prevent people fromsuffering natural catastrophes.”
The mudslide northeast of Seattle on March 22 obliterated the hamlet, temporarily blocked the river and wiped out a state highway, entombing dozens of victims in a slurry of mud, logs and debris. Thirty bodies have been found. More than a dozen people aremissing.
Financial losses to homes and property total about $10 million, said Gov. Jay Inslee. Amajor disaster declaration from President Barack Obama has cleared the way for help to the victims, but some lost their second homes, which aren’t covered by disaster aid.
It seems all but certain that at least some of the survivors or the estates of victims will sue to recover some of their damages, although such cases can be tough to win, lawyers said.
“I hope there is some recourse,” said Davis Hargrave, a 73-year-old architect fromKirklandwho lost his second home. “Werewe informed of this danger? No, a very emphatic no.”