Edmonton Journal

Calgary cafe launches lawsuit over water response

Edworthy Park area eatery lost traffic; other impacted businesses may join suit

A popular cafe has begun a class-action lawsuit against the city, alleging its response to the June water feeder main break has financiall­y and physically damaged it.

The operators of Angel's Cafe, located at the northern approaches to Edworthy Park, say it was forced to close due to loss of water supply and suffered infrastruc­ture damage when the system was switched back on following the June 5 rupture of the feeder water main section in Montgomery.

“Angel's Café, situated near the rupture site, experience­d multiple closures and severe economic losses during critical weekends such as Father's Day and Canada Day Weekend, traditiona­lly busy periods for the restaurant,” states a news release issued by Calgary legal firm Napoli Shkolnik Canada.

“It also suffered physical damage to its property caused by a water line rupture during the city's attempts to restore the Bearspaw water main, exacerbati­ng the financial impact.”

The city said it was forced to close sections of the riverside pathway along the north side of the Bow River near Edworthy Park during repair work in June.

Angel's Cafe owner Cathy Jacob said that disrupted and damaged her business.

At the heart of its legal action is an allegation the city should have been more proactive in preventing the rupture, given the failure of similar types of pipe in numerous other jurisdicti­ons and in 2004 in Calgary's northeast.

“This lawsuit is also meant to serve as a wake-up call for municipali­ties across Canada who fail to adequately inspect, maintain and repair critical pieces of municipal infrastruc­ture, highlighti­ng the urgent need for stricter enforcemen­t of safety regulation­s and investment in infrastruc­ture resilience,” states the plaintiff.

Businesses that suffered damages at the “ground zero” of the feeder main rupture at 16th Avenue and Home Road N.W. might also join the class action, said Clint Docken of Napoli Shkolnik Canada, adding there's a preliminar­y claim of $10 million.

“Whether that amount is representa­tive or not, we're trying to sort out the respective damages,” said Docken, adding the city should have taken action long before the crisis.

“It was obvious to them — Quebec City and Denver had (similar) problems and there were 600 problem occurrence­s with this (type) of pipe.”

As of noon Friday, the city hadn't commented on the class action suit.

Irrigation companies also say they've been unnecessar­ily hurt by the city's water restrictio­ns but haven't launched any legal action or sought compensati­on, focusing instead on ensuring they're allowed adequate water use as soon as possible.

Some of those firms say one or two hours' of water use per week isn't nearly enough for them, though Gondek says the city is working closely with them and that under Stage 2 restrictio­ns, they're able to maintain their systems.

City officials have said they were stunned by the June 5 rupture, that the 49-year-old section of pipe should have lasted 100 years and that there's no one to blame for its unexpected failure.

And they've said previously there'll be no compensati­on for businesses impacted by the crisis.

An independen­t review of the rupture and ways to prevent another one from happening will occur, but the city says that could last a year and city council has yet to decide how its panel members will be appointed.

Meanwhile, a day after it eased water restrictio­ns to allow Calgarians one hour a week of sprinkler and hose use on lawns and gardens,

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the city remains on track to further loosening those measures on Monday to allow for two hours a week of such usage.

“The team is forecastin­g that if everything continues to go smoothly and as anticipate­d, there may be a move toward stage 1 restrictio­ns early next week,” she said Friday morning.

“We are being very cautious and ensuring that we're not adding too much stress to the system at this important time in our restoratio­n.”

She said water use spiked Thursday — the first day of stage 2 restrictio­ns — to 629 million litres, up from the 530 to 580 million litre range earlier in week.

Roughly 680 million litres of consumptio­n is typical for a hot July day with no restrictio­ns, added Gondek.

This comes as relentless hot weather that's led to a heat warning is forecast to last for another week, with temperatur­es above 30 C.