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The Logan and Northern Canal Company has agreed to pay $950,000 in the deaths of three family members who died on July 11, 2009, in a landslide triggered by a canal failure in Logan.
The Utah Attorney General's Office Wednesday released details of a settlement totaling $1.25 million in two lawsuits filed after the deaths of Evelia Jacqueline Leavey and her children Victor Alanis Jr. and Abbey Alania Alanis, both 12. They died when a wall of mud crashed into the house they were renting on Canyon Road below the hillside canal.
The children's father, Victor Alanis Sr., filed a wrongful-death suit in 2010 against Logan City, the Utah Department of Transportation, the Logan and Northern Canal Company, Utah State University and Eric Ashcroft, the owner of the house the family was renting.
The same parties were also sued by Leavey's father, Antonio Ortiz.
USU was named in the lawsuits because it owns the land through which the failed canal ran. UDOT owned, operated or maintained the canal and surrounding land, according to the suits. Logan City also played a role in maintaining the canal.
Logan and Northern Canal Company is privately owned by Cache Valley land owners, who used the water for irrigation.
A settlement on the two lawsuits was reached in February, and the amounts paid by the public entities were released in April. Logan City settled for $175,000, UDOT for $75,000 and USU for $50,000. But the Logan and Northern Canal Company refused to disclose its portion of the settlement.
The Salt Lake Tribune filed a request to the A.G.'s Office under the state Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) for that information. Because the plaintiffs were involved in arbitration to resolve how the settlement would be divided, the terms could be not be disclosed until it was approved by the court. On Wednesday, the A.G. released the final details.
Attempts to reach the canal company for comment were not immediately successful.
Colin King, who represents Ortiz, said the arbitration agreement will remain private.
"This was a terrible human tragedy," he said. "It was predictable and inevitable."
Two lawsuits filed by Ortiz and Alanis against Ashcroft, the homeowner, are still pending.
The canal had been blamed for dozens of landslides dating back to the 1800s. Shortly before the July 11, 2009, landslide, residents in the area had noticed that the hillside was extremely wet above Canyon Road.
Several Utah State University studies done before the tragedy showed that the canal was leaking, but city leaders repeatedly said those problems needed to be addressed by the canal company.
However, documents obtained under GRAMA show that city workers had dug out leaks on the canal and backfilled the holes with clay in 2005 and 2006.
King said he was "satisfied" with the settlement, given the difficulty of winning a lawsuit against UDOT, USU and Logan City — entities that have governmental immunity.
"My client wanted the case resolved, and Utah State, UDOT and Logan had unlimited resources to try it," he said.
A spokesman for USU said the outcome was best for all involved.
"You have to weigh the human element," said Joe Dulin. "We believed if we could settle the case for this amount, it was in the best interest of the university, the state and those involved."
The fate of the Logan canal
The Logan and Northern Canal remains closed at the site of the massive breach above Canyon Road that killed three people in 2009. Canal owners hope to reroute irrigation water in that area through the Logan-Hyde Park-Smithfield Canal. An environmental impact statement on the plan is under way.