A Sound Transit Link extension project damaged Tacoma electrical facilities on two different days in August 2022, forcing power outages and nearly $400,000 in repair costs that the city has yet to be reimbursed for, according to a lawsuit.
The city of Tacoma has sued Sound Transit and two contractors who worked on the project, accusing the defendants of negligence and violating a state law that governs “willful and malicious” occurrences of such damages.
“The statute applies to the property damage at issue here, where Defendants knowingly damaged marked electrical facilities within the City of Tacoma, and failed to notify the City of the damage,” the lawsuit said.
Sound Transit and contractor, Walsh Construction Co. II, and its sub-contractor, Dickson Demolition and Abatement, didn’t respond to messages from The News Tribune seeking comment by deadline.
Tacoma claimed that the contractors acknowledged receipt of repair-related invoices totaling more than $377,000 from the city but have paid nothing, according to the suit filed July 29 in Pierce County Superior Court.
Maria Lee, a city spokesperson, declined to comment on the civil complaint, following the city’s standard practice.
The project in question — referred to in the complaint only as the “Sound Transit Light Link Rail Extension Project” — appears to be the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension, based on project details shared in the suit.
Work on the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension, which extended service into Stadium and Hilltop districts upon completion in 2023, had shut down the entire intersection of Commerce and South 9th streets for about six weeks beginning Aug. 1, 2022, according to the suit and previous News Tribune reporting.
On Aug. 3, 2022, Sound Transit and the contractors damaged at least three of eight Tacoma Power electrical conduits in a Commerce Street section while performing project work, the suit claimed. Five days later, a second Tacoma Power vault at Commerce and South 9th streets was allegedly damaged by the defendants when a vault casting was shifted off a vault opening, leaving the interior exposed to significant concrete debris that fell in.
“Restoration work for both incidents, arising from damage caused by the Defendants, involved outages to Tacoma Power customers, monopolized Tacoma Power crews, and delayed ongoing and existing projects,” the suit said.
The city claimed to have incurred liquidated damages of more than $286,000 and $91,000, respectively, to fix the damages to the marked electrical facilities following the incidents, according to the suit.
“At all relevant times, Defendants Sound Transit, Walsh, and Dickson, breached their respective duties of care owed to the City,” the suit said, “and in doing so, negligently caused the City to suffer damages, including but not limited to, damages for investigation and consultant costs, repair and remediation expense in the liquidated amounts set forth above, and attorney’s fees and costs in amount to be proven at trial.”
Tacoma is seeking a judgment for unspecified damages, legal fees and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
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