An attorney representing the father of Jacqueline Leavey, who died July 11 in a Logan mudslide, said his investigation implicates Logan City and the Logan & Northern Canal Co. as responsible for the tragedy.
Salt Lake City-based lawyer Colin King, who represents Layton resident Antonio Ortiz, said his probe into the canal failure above Canyon Road is ongoing. But he contended because Logan and the canal company maintained the waterway, both entities are legally responsible for its safety.
"The precise way it failed isn't necessary when assigning responsibility," King said. "If you assume a duty or a role, then you assume responsibility. They had a duty to maintain the canal in a safe way, and clearly didn't do it."
Officials including Gov. Gary Herbert opted not to pursue a formal investigation into the canal collapse and subsequent slide that killed Leavey, 43; her 13-year-old son, Victor Alanis; and her 12-year-old daughter, Abbey Alanis. As a result, any probe has been left to the people who may sue.
King's comments portend how he may build a lawsuit on behalf of his client, who is Leavey's heir. Leavey and her children's father were not married. She had no other children.
Logan & Northern Canal President Jon Meikle did not immediately return phone calls .
Mayor Randy Watts had earlier said Logan was not responsible for the cataclysm. The city, he said, did not maintain nor inspect the canal above Canyon Road where it failed.
However, documents obtained by The Tribune under Utah's open records law - reveal city workers dug out leaks along that section of canal and filled holes with clay in 2005 and 2006.
In 2006, Logan spent $7,300 in labor and equipment costs on the canal above Canyon Road, according to documents.
Logan documents also show city workers backfilled dirt along the structure's aging concrete walls and installed overflow devices, among other things.
Between 2004 and 2008, city workers spent more than 190 hours on maintenance along the canal within city limits, according to those documents.
Nonetheless, Logan City Attorney Kymber Housley reiterated Friday that the municipality is not responsible for the mudslide nor the deaths of Leavey and her children.
"I haven't seen [King's] evidence," he said Friday, "so it's hard to comment."
Housley noted that while Logan did maintenance work on the canal, Logan & Northern Canal Co. made the inspections and did most of the upkeep.
Logan helps maintain canals within city limits, Housley explained, because the waterways are tied to the town's storm-water runoff system. In an Aug. 6 interview, Housley said Logan workers did maintenance along the entire length of the canal within city limits.
Friday, however, he said he was unsure whether city crews worked on the canal above Canyon Road where it failed.
That Logan workers helped maintain the canal does not free the canal company from responsibility, King contended.
"The Logan Northern Canal Co. has an inherent duty," King said. "They can assign [maintenance] to other entities, but they're still responsible."
Both the city and the canal company knew there were problems with the section of above Canyon Road that failed July 11, King said.
Since 1996, the city had responded to several canal breaks. After a 2005 slide wiped out a house on Canyon Road, a state study warned that more slides were probable in the area.
Despite that finding, King said Logan and the canal company failed to keep residents safe.
"They were burdened with the knowledge of potential landslides," he said. "But they band-aided it and that was that."
On July 11, a canal burst above Canyon Road, in Logan, causing a mudslide that buried Jacqueline Leavey's home, killing the 43-year-old woman and her two children. State geologists say leakage on the canal was just one of many potential causes for the disaster. Government officials, however, have declined any additional investigation into the collapse's cause, although a subcommittee of the state Executive Water Task Force is meeting to recommend ways to improve canal safety in Utah.
