ML20132C347

Forwards Silva Personal Injury & Property Damage Claim,Per Telcon

ML20132C347
Person / Time
Site:	Rancho Seco
Issue date:	07/17/1985
From:	Reinaldo Rodriguez SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT
To:	Martin J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V)
References
RJR-85-351, NUDOCS 8507300205
Download: ML20132C347 (11)

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SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT O 6201 S Street, P.O. Box 15830, Sacramento, CA 95813; (916) 452 3211 RJR 85-351 AN ELECTRIC SYSTEM SERVING THE HEg O CAL FO NIA REGloy ygy;g July 17, 1985 f

1 JOHN MARTIN U S NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION V 0FFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT 1450 MARIA LANE SUITE 210 WALNUT CREEK CA 94596 SILVA CLAIM Enclosed is the Silva Claim that you had inquired about in our phone conversation Tuesday.

R. J. RODRIGUEZ r- ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER NUCLEAR ENC N

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BECEWED

! LENARD G. WEISS IIIS 2l LEONARD R. STEIN g STEEEEL, LEVITT & WEISS I 3 A Professional Corporation EE5 J!A IB 7A L7. l~c 1 j I p;; ly One Embarcadero Center, 29th Floor ( pg A ";gtt 4, San Francisco, California 94111 ' :3 5!

i Telephone: (415) 788-0900 REG GN W . .,y,... 9 "'1 j, /

Attorneys for Gary C. Silva, l I

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6 Tildean Silva, Gary C. Silva, Jr.

3 and Michelle L. Silva 7l 8

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In re Claim of Gary Silva, )

10 , Tildean Silva, Gary Silva, Jr., ) CLAIM FOR PERSONAL y and Michelle Silva ) INJURY AND PROPERTY 11 " ) DAMAGE (Cal. Government i Claimants, ) Code S 910 et seq.)

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ggy!8 District, a public entity, )

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i! o E N 16 Respondents. )

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$5 2 17 y!,5 To the Sacramento Municipal Utility District:

" E" o 18 You are hereby notified that Gary Silva, and Tildean 19 Silva, Gary Silva, Jr. and Michelle Silva (collectively referred 20 to herein as the " Silvas"), whose mailing address is 11540 Clay 21 Station Road, Herald, California 95638, claim damages from the 22 Sacramento Municipal Utility District ("SMUD") and Doe respon-23 dents (hereinafter collectively referred to as " Respondents")

24 pursuant to Section 910 of the California Government Code.

25 This claim is based upon personal injuries and damage 26 to real and personal property sustained by the Silvas as the 27 result of radioactive wastes which the Silvas are informed and 28 believe werp discharged over the period of approximately 1980

I through 1984 by Respondents onto the Silvas' property located 2

directly adjacent to and in the vicinity of the Rancho Seco 3

Nuclear Power Station (" Rancho Seco").

4 These radioactive discharges have injured and are 5!

causing continuing damage to the Silvas personally, and to their 6'l 7;

land, crops, livestock and businesses. The Silvas first learned

! about the extent of these radioactive discharges after April 1, 8i l 1985.

9i The Silvas' claims are based upon the following conduct 10 !'

by Respondents, which conduct has caused the injuries to the 11 Silvas described below:

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$gg3  : 1. Negligence -- The Silvas are informed and believe W

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!j that Respondents have:

aEA88 14 ggg38  ; (a) Negligently operated Rancho Seco to permit

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l g g { 15 releases of radioactivity onto the Silvas' property;

.-o 16 d f y "E ~:; (b) Negligently failed to warn the Silvas of the Sicid 17 l f f, g hazard to their persons, their livestock, and their crops from

• E" 18 l the emissions of radioactivity from Rancho Seco before, during 19 and after the time of such emissions; 20 (c) Negligently failed to take steps to prevent 21 radioactive releases from leaving SMUD property; l 22 (d) Negligently failed to take steps to prevent 23 further radioactive releases after learning that such releases 24 were occurring; 25 (e) Negligently failed to monitor actual radioac- 1 l

26 tive emissions from Rancho Seco; 27

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(f) Negligently failed to design and/or to oper-2' ate the computer program intended to monitor the radioactivity 3

emitted from Rancho Seco onto the Silvas' property; 4

(g) Negligently violated SMUD's duty to warn the 5

Silvas of radioactive emissions from Rancho Seco; 6

(h) Negligently discharged radioactivity from 7

Rancho Seco causing injury to the Silvas' riparian rights; 8

(i) Negligently misrepresented the level and 9

effect of radioactive releases from Rancho Seco onto the Silvas' 10 property; ll i

! (j) Negligently misrepresented that the Silvas' 12

$ lg3 property was safe from radioactive emissions;

"! 8 13 N!A5 (k) Negligently misrepresented that all radioac-0 i!8 14 tive discharges from Rancho Seco complied with all applicable g g38 u$3 15 regulations and statutes; g{5 16 c- misrepresented no d g (1) Negligently that spent El  ! 17

$ .y nuclear fuel was stored on site at Rancho Seco;

[* 18 (m) Negligently failed to supervise and adequate-19 ly train personnel and/or to hire adequate numbers of personnel 20 to operate the plant; 21 (n) Negligently supervised the design, construc-22 tion and operation of the plant; and 23 (o) Negligently failed to provide assurances and 24 information to the Silvas about the level and impact of the 25 radioactive releases on the Silvas themselves, their businesses, t 26 and their real and personal property.

(p) Been negligent in ways not yet known to the i 28 Silvas.

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1I 2. Negligence per se --

The Silvas are informed and l

2 believe that Respondents have:

3 (a) discharged radioactive waste onto the Silvas' 4

j property in violation of United States Environmental Protection 5:

Agency (" EPA") regulations; 6l discharged radioactive waste onto the Silvas' j (b) 71 property in violation of the United States Nuclear Regulatory 8

Commission's ("NRC") regulations; 9

(c) discharged radioactive waste onto the Silvas' 10 property in violation of Rancho Seco design criteria; (d) discharged radioactive waste onto the Silvas' m 12 m g:$. property in violation of Rancho Seco performance specifications;

"' 3 13 Ng: j (e) failed to report to the NRC certain radioac-0ii88

• 8 14 tive emissions from Rancho Seco in violation of NRC reporting

~"538 03 15 hjg@: requirements; oe 16

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discharged radioactive waste onto the Silvas' df$ln Sc1: 17 (f)

@! $ property in violation of SMUD's NRC license to operate the Rancho

" E" 18 0 Seco Plant; 19 (g) discharged radioactive waste into waters 20 flowing through the Silvas' properties in violation of the Cali-21 fornia Water Code; and 22 (h) discharged radioactive waste from Rancho Seco 23 in possible violation of other federal and state statutes and 24 regulations.

25 The

3. Absolute Liability / Ultrahazardous Activity --

26 Silvas are informed and believe that Respondents are absolutely 27 liable for injuries sustained by the Silvas caused by the emis-28 sion of radioactivity from Rancho Seco.

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,I I 4. Assault and Battery -- The Silvas are informed and 2I believe that Respondents have wrongfully and intentionally dis-3 j charged radioactive waste from Rancho Seco and that Respondents 41 knew or should have known that the Silvas would be exposed to 5>

said radioactivity and would be damaged thereby.

6l 5. Deceit -- Respondents have made the following 7\ false representations to the Silvas:

l that the level of discharges of radioactivity 8l' (a) 9j from Rancho Seco were lower than in reality; j

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1 (b) that the radioactive emissions did not vio-11 I late any state or federal law, regulation or standard; l!

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@jg3 l (c) that the Silvas' land and property is not 3gE 13 I

2j I contaminated; 01658 14 that there would be no on-site storage of g8;g8 (d) g"O5: 15 radioactive waste; m 3oO I wW=

idfl Elait 17 (e) that the public, including the Silvas, would y 5g be informed of any emissions of radioactivity from Rancho Seco;

• I" o 18 that Rancho Seco was a "no release" plant; (f) 19 namely, SMUD would not release any radioactivity from Rancho 20 Seco.

21 The Silvas are in-

6. Nuisance / Nuisance per se --

22 formed and believe that Respondents have released radioactive 23 waste into the Silvas' property which is injurious to health, 24 indecent and offensive to the senses and obstructs the Silvan' 25 free use of their property.

26 The Silvas are informed and

7. Public Nuisance --

27 believe Respondents have injured the entire community by their 28 discharge of radioactive waste from Rancho Seco. The Silvan have 5

I been specially injured by these discharges in that the Silvas are 2

the immediate neighbors to Rancho Seco and have suffered the 3

greatest degree of exposure to and damage from this radiation.

4

8. Unreasonable use of water -- The Silvas are in-5'

formed and believe that Respondents, by virtue of the discharge 6

of radioactive waste from Rancho Seco, have violated Article 10, 7l Section 2 of the California Constitution.

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9. Trespass -- The Silvas are informed and believe 9

that Respondents have deposited on the Silvas' property, without 10

- their consent, radioactive material which has wrongfully invaded 11 '

the Silvas' rights in their real property.

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$ 10.

E lg~l I Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress --

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• Respondents' intentional discharge of radioactivity onto the Op gj $ 14 yg 8, Silvas' property as well as their conscious failure to provide

.o 3 15 3, gj adequate assurances concerning the impact of those releanos on l:; 16 the Silvas' persons and property is outrageous conduct that a ! 17 -

a recklessly disregards the Silvas' personal and property rights

[I 18 and has caused severe emotional distress to the Silvas.

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11. Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress --

Respondents have negligently caused the Silvas severe emotional 21 distress by their intentional discharge of radioactivity onto the 22 Silvas' property as well as by their negligent failure to provide 23 adequate assurances concerning the impact of those releases on 24 the Silvan' persons and property.

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12. Ir} verse condemnation -- Although under California 26 Government Code Section 905.1, no claim is required to be filed l to maintain an action against a public entity for taking of, or 28 damage to, private property pursuant to Section 19 of Article 1 6

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c . n of the California constitution, the Silvas hereby make claim for 2' the value of real and personal property, including businesses 3l taken by SMUD due to SMUD's discharge of radioactive waste onto 4

. the Silvas' property which has rendered that property valueless.

5! ' The names of the public employees that have caused or 6I injuries are not presently known to i contributed to the Silvas' 7i the Silvas. ,

8 The injuries sustained by the Silvas as f ar as known, 9

as of the date of presentation of this claim, consist of: physi-10 l cal and emotional injury to each of the Silvas; diminished value 11 !

j of the Silvas' real and personal property; damage to the Silvas'

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, businesses; loss of goodwill and interruption of the Silvas'

!I 13 l3ft$ businesses; loss of profits; damage to livelihood; deprivation of a ;g{g 14

yg Q the use and enjoyment of the property; and damage to livestock j3 15 and growing crops.

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The dollar amounts claimed as of the date of presenta-bE 17 tion of this claim are under investigation and are unknown. The lg 18 their total damages are in excess of Silvas estimate that 19

$9,556,000, as calculated in Exhibit "A" hereto.

20 All notices or other communications concerning this 21 claim should be sent to the Silvas c/o Steefel, Levitt & Weiss, A 22 Professional Corporation, One Embarcadero Center, 29th Floor, San 23

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l Francisco, California 94111, Attn nard . Weiss, Esq. a,nd Leonard R. Stein, Esq.

Dated: June M , 1985 EEE LEVI & 'EI S, o Co tion 4 ..!AProffs

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5 BY A Lenar 70. Weiss Atto rieys for claimants Gary 6

Silva Tildean Silva, Gary 7l 1140.04 Sily , Jr. and Michelle Silva 8 1 9

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,* l I EXHIBIT "A" 2' Estimated damages incurred to date (as known) 3 Physical and emotional injury

• l 4' '

Cary Silva -

Not known at present 5

Tildean Silva Hot known at present 6

Gary Silva, J r ., Not known at present 7

Michelle Silva Not known at present 8

g Damage to_ Businesses 4 590,000 10 Injury to real and personal property

• 11 Crops $ 71,000 3 Cattle $ 175,000 ,

lI I 13 Land $5,250,000 0 8 14 NI2 other property Not known at present  ;

13, 15 Estimated prospective __ damages _(as known1 o

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17 13 Future damages __for physical ___and emotional _ injury

• cary Silva Not known at present 19 Tildean Silva Not known at present 20 Cary Silva, J r_._ Not known at present 21 22 Michelle Silva Not known at present 23

• The Silvas will amend this claim when the amount of '

these damages is known.

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Future harm to businesses

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Future injury to real and 3

4j personal property

• I 5' Crops Not known at present I cattle At least $250,000 6

7l Land Not known at present 8i Other Not known at present l

9 Tota.1_ amount claimed as of the date An amount in excess of 10

, of_ presentation of thin _ claim $9,556,000 11 'l l'

• The Silvan will amend this claim when the amount of

,l 12 l these damagen in fully known.

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