DEARBORN HEIGHTS – Local residents Ali & Rola Abdallah recently filed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn Heights after their basement flooded on May 25 of last year, claiming negligence for not properly operating and maintaining the city’s sewer systems. 

“We are suing Wayne County,” said Mayor Dan Paletko. “It just doesn’t flood in Dearborn Heights. It’s also happening in Garden City and Westland. These solutions have to be solved on a regional basis.”

This seems to be a common problem with residents in the city. In May of last year, 183 homes reported flooding on their properties. Detroit Law Firm Macuga, Liddle & Dubin, which represent the Abdallah case that was filed at the Wayne County Circuit Court in December 2011, says that they’ve had cases in regards to flooding in Dearborn Heights that date back to 1998.

Even more cases came their way in 2000, 2004 and 2009-2011.

“Right now it appears from our investigation that the problem stems from the Dearborn Heights sewer system,” stated David Dubin, from the law firm. “There are different pockets within the city that flood. At first, it was primarily the area near Ecorse Creek. But recently it’s been more the center and northern part of the city.”

The city of Dearborn Heights runs on three different sewer systems. There is the Ecorse sewer system which includes the residents in the south of the city as well as residents from Romulus and Taylor. The second system is the Lower Rouge system which runs along Michigan Ave. and is shared with Dearborn and Inkster. The third system is the Northern Rouge sewer, which runs through the northern part of the city and is shared with Garden City and Westland.

According to the Mayor of Dearborn Heights, the city is not the only one that has experienced these problems. He says that the finger should also be pointed at Wayne County. 

“We are suing Wayne County,” said Mayor Dan Paletko. “It just doesn’t flood in Dearborn Heights. It’s also happening in Garden City and Westland. These solutions have to be solved on a regional basis. The Ecorse project alone would be over $165 million. There is no way the city can afford to fix that on its own. We’ve got to get the other communities involved.”

According to the Mayor, the city has exercised all of its options to prevent residential floodings and continue to take proactive measures.

“We do more cleaning and more monitoring than anyone else. We look for any problems in our particular systems. They were built to handle a certain amount of flow water. If you get an inch and a half more it begins to create problems,” the Mayor added.

A homeowner who owns and rents out multiple houses in the Dearborn-Dearborn Heights area says that he’s been hearing the same excuses from the city for years now.

“It’s nothing but a blame game. First Dearborn Heights tells you it’s not their fault and they refer you to Wayne County. Then when you go to Wayne County, they refer you back to Dearborn Heights,” said the homeowner who wished to remain anonymous. “I have a lot of problems with flooding in this city, especially south of Ford Rd. It was a problem that was traced back all the way to one of the main sewer systems.”

The Mayor says that suing the city isn’t the right step. Legal bills this year alone have already exceeded $700,000 for the city and he warns that if expenses keep increasing it could possibly affect tax payers. 

Dearborn Heights is not the only city that has experienced lawsuits from residents in regards to flooding. Grosse Pointe Farms is currently experiencing three pending lawsuits dealing with similar situations. The city of Hamtramck recently settled a lawsuit with over 200 plaintiffs that resulted in the city paying out over $1.6 million in rewards and an additional $200,000 in legal fees.  

But many residents feel they have no other choice but to seek damages from their city. In recent years, home insurance companies have capped the amount of coverage they can give in particular claims.

“Most policies cover about $5,000 on average,” added Dubin. “Most of our clients that come through the door, only about 10 percent of them have insurance. And what I’m hearing is most insurance companies have been refusing to allow repeated claims of flooding.”

Dubin says that the Abdallah case in Dearborn Heights is still under investigation and they are open to determining who is actually at fault.

“City attorneys from prior cases have pointed the finger at Wayne County, but we are looking into it,” Dubin stated. “We’ve filed a complaint and the city has answered. We will continue working with our clients to document this case.” 

The Mayor of Dearborn Heights says that thus far, Wayne County has been cooperative with the lawsuit against the city. Funding for renovations within one particular sewer system is on the way.

“They have been cooperative with the Ecorse Creek. We hope that it will soon be funded by the federal government,” the Mayor added.  

Hopefully the problems are solved sooner than later. The months of April, May and June have resulted in the most claims for flooded basements in Wayne County. 2012 might just be another year added on to the damages.