A Marana couple who say they unknowingly lived above a growing pool of raw sewage for six years is suing the town of Marana and a homebuilding company for negligence.
Jorge and Lisa Carranza said in a complaint that environmental testing has revealed the presence of mold and E. coli around their home.
Their house, built by Richmond American Construction in 1999, was missing an underground section of pipe that would have connected the home’s plumbing to the town’s sewer system.
Instead, raw sewage drained directly into the ground underneath the property near North Silverbell Road and North Coachline Boulevard, according to the complaint, filed in the Pima County Superior Court.
Richmond American Construction is a subsidiary of Denver-based MDC Holdings, which did not reply to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The Carranzas bought the home in 2009 for $200,200, Pima County Assessor’s office records show. They began having plumbing problems in September 2015 when water started leaking around the bottom of their downstairs toilet. A plumbing company discovered the missing section of pipe, the complaint said. The company, R.K. Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, repaired the oversight last year.
The complaint alleges the town of Marana was negligent in issuing a permit for the underground piping to be buried before properly inspecting it. It also says that a representative of Marana denied responsibility for any damages earlier this year.
The defendants acted “in total reckless and unreasonable disregard for the safety of residential occupants, and acted in such a way so as to unreasonably expose them to probably serious harm,” said the complaint, which seeks unspecified damages.
The Carranzas declined to comment on the lawsuit through their attorney, Bryan Canavan of Canavan Thomae Law in Oro Valley.
Marana officials cannot comment on pending litigation, said town spokeswoman Vickie Hathaway.
Each member of the Carranza family — the couple and their children, ages 5 and 10 — have all contracted illnesses, including abdominal pain, nausea, irritable bowel syndrome and migraines, the complaint said.
In addition to the plaintiff’s physical suffering, emotional distress and medical expenses resulting from the construction error, the homeowners have also been harmed by the damage to their property’s resale value, the complaint said.
