Guzman v. County of Monterey

66 Cal. Rptr. 3d 258, 155 Cal. App. 4th 645, 37 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20249, 2007 Cal. App. LEXIS 1597
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 25, 2007
DocketH030647
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 66 Cal. Rptr. 3d 258 (Guzman v. County of Monterey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guzman v. County of Monterey, 66 Cal. Rptr. 3d 258, 155 Cal. App. 4th 645, 37 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20249, 2007 Cal. App. LEXIS 1597 (Cal. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

66 Cal.Rptr.3d 258 (2007)
155 Cal.App.4th 645

Javier R. GUZMAN et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,
v.
COUNTY OF MONTEREY et al. Defendants and Respondents.

No. H030647.

Court of Appeal of California, Sixth District.

September 25, 2007.

*260 Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel, Brian L. Burchett, San Diego, Law Offices of Richard H. Rosenthal, Richard H. Rosenthal, Los Angeles, Selden Law Firm Lynde Selden, II, San Diego, for Plaintiffs/Appellants Javier R. Guzman et al.

County of Monterey et al., County Counsel, Charles J. McKee, Patrick McGreal, Deputy County Counsel, for Defendants/Respondents.

*259 PREMO, J.

Plaintiffs are 80 men, women, and children who were residents of Jensen Camp Mobile Home Park (Jensen Camp) in Monterey County between 1995 and 2003. Plaintiffs allege that Jensen Camp water was contaminated with dangerously high levels of naturally occurring fluoride since at least 1995 but that plaintiffs were not told about the contamination until 2003. Plaintiffs sued Rick Pinch who was Jensen Camp's owner and water system operator, the County of Monterey (County), and Monterey County Health Department. Plaintiffs appeal from judgment entered after the trial court sustained without leave to amend County's demurrer to the third amended complaint.[1] .

The issue on appeal is whether provisions of the California Safe Drinking Water Act (Health & Saf.Code, § 116270 et seq.) impose upon County a mandatory duty under Government Code section 815.6 to review and respond to water quality monitoring reports submitted by water systems for which County is responsible.

We conclude that regulations implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act imposed a mandatory duty requiring County to perform a monthly review of all water quality monitoring reports it received and to direct the water system operators to notify water users when those reports indicated contamination. No statutory immunity protects County from liability for breach of that duty. Plaintiffs' third amended complaint sufficiently alleged the elements necessary for liability under Government Code section 815.6. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment.

I. Background

"On appeal from dismissal following a sustained demurrer, we take as true all well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint." (Haggis v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 22 Cal.4th 490, 495, 93 Cal. Rptr.2d 327, 993 P.2d 983 (Haggis).) Plaintiffs' third amended complaint contains the following factual allegations.

Defendant Rick Pinch owned Jensen Camp from November 1995 through August 2003. Water for the Jensen Camp residents came from a community water system that Pinch operated. County was the "local primacy agency" responsible for ensuring that public water systems in its jurisdiction, such as the one at Jensen Camp, were operated in compliance with *261 the law.[2] Pinch was not a knowledgeable water system operator. He depended upon County for direction and advice concerning operation of the Jensen Camp water system.

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires water operators like Pinch to monitor the quality of their water and to notify the local primacy agency and the water consumers whenever certain substances in the water exceed a specified maximum contaminate level (MCL). Pinch monitored the Jensen Camp water periodically. Monitoring reports show that in 1995 the level of fluoride in the water was 7.6 mg/L; in 1999 it was 8.5 mg/L; and in 2002 it was 5.8 mg/L. The MCL for fluoride is 2.0 milligrams per liter (mg/L). Water containing fluoride in excess of 2.0 mg/L poses a risk of injury to the persons drinking it. Thus, each of the water monitoring reports showed that the Jensen Camp water contained unsafe levels of fluoride. County received copies of these monitoring reports but prior to 2003 County employees did not review them and did not direct Pinch to notify plaintiffs that their drinking water was unsafe. It was not until April 2003 that County imposed a compliance order under which Pinch acknowledged the contamination and agreed to make repairs to the water system.

Plaintiffs Javier R. Guzman and Tosha F. Djirbandee-Ramos, who were residents of the camp at the time, purchased Jensen Camp from Pinch in or about August 2003. The new owners did not become aware of the fluoride problem until after the sale. Upon learning of the fluoride contamination, they notified the other tenants and provided bottled water while they investigated repairs to the system.

Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against Pinch and County. After the trial court sustained County's first demurrer with leave to amend, plaintiffs filed a third amended complaint, which contains two causes of action against County for negligence. One cause of action alleges that County breached a mandatory duty within the meaning of Government Code section 815.6. The other cause of action is based upon allegations of a special relationship between plaintiffs and County.

County again demurred, claiming there was no mandatory duty and no special relationship and that County was immune from liability for the acts alleged. The trial court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend. There followed a judgment of dismissal as to County only. Plaintiffs have timely appealed, challenging the trial court's ruling only with respect to the cause of action for negligence under Government Code section 815.6.

II. Standard Of Review

"A demurrer properly is [sustained] when the pleadings fail to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc, § 430.10, subd. (e).) In determining if a complaint is subject to demurrer, the court considers not only the face of the complaint, but any facts judicially noticed. (Teachers Management & Inv. Corp. v. City of Santa Cruz (1976) 64 Cal.App.3d 438, 444[, 134 Cal.Rptr. 523].) ... Where, as here, a demurrer has been granted without leave to amend, the `reviewing court gives the *262 complaint a reasonable interpretation, and treats the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded. [Citation.] The court does not, however, assume the truth of the contentions, deductions or conclusions of law.'" (Washington v. County of Contra Costa (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 890, 895, 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 646 (Washington).) We exercise our independent judgment about whether the pleading states a cause of action as a matter of law. (City of Morgan Hill v. Bay Area Air Quality Management Dist. (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 861, 869-870, 13 Cal.Rptr.3d 420.) "We independently construe statutory law, as its interpretation is a question of law on which we are not hound by the trial court's analysis." (Id. at p. 870, 13 Cal.Rptr.3d 420.)

III. Legal Framework

"In California, governmental tort liability must be based on statute." (Washington, supra, 38 Cal.App.4th at pp. 895-896, 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 646; Gov.Code, § 815.) Government Code section 815.6 is one such statute.

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66 Cal. Rptr. 3d 258, 155 Cal. App. 4th 645, 37 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20249, 2007 Cal. App. LEXIS 1597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guzman-v-county-of-monterey-calctapp-2007.