Something stinks in the City of Penticton.

At least, it did in July and October 2015, when the city鈥檚 sewage system allegedly backed up into a property on Gahan Avenue, to the tune of about 18,000 litres on both occasions, according to a lawsuit filed against city hall this week.

Filed on Monday by insurance broker Shirley Varga and lawyer Paul Varga, the lawsuit claims that on July 22, 2015 at around 5:30 p.m., the couple found that sewage was coming out of their toilet, shower drain and bathtub drain from the city-owned sewage system.

鈥淭he flow of sewage waste coming into the home continued unabated for approximately three hours and at one point filled the entire ground floor to approximately eight inches in depth for a total volume of approximately 18,000 litres of raw sewage,鈥� the court filing says.

In the first sewage backup, the Vargas claim, the entire ground floor of the home and its contents were affected.

Remediation reportedly was underway by Oct. 22, 2015, when the plaintiffs say they found sewage coming out of their toilet, shower drain and bathtub drain a second time at around 7:20 a.m.

鈥淭he plaintiffs were unaware how long the second sewage backup had been occurring before it was discovered flowing into the Residence,鈥� the filing says.

鈥淎fter discovery, the inflow continued unabated for approximately one hour and at one point filled the entire ground floor to approximately eight inches in depth for a total volume of approximately 18,000 litres of raw sewage.

The Vargas claim to have lost the costs of repairs to the residence, personal possessions, use of the residence, the reduction in the property鈥檚 value and 鈥渇urther particulars of special damages to be determined.鈥�

The Vargas pre-emptively claimed the sewage backup is not a natural occurrence on city land, adding it鈥檚 a potentially 鈥渄angerous thing likely to cause harm鈥� and that the city failed to prevent the backup.

From the city, the pair is seeking a return on damages and costs to the property.

dustin.godfrey@pentictonwesternnews.com
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