Several families are considering suing the City of Chico over possible bacteria in Sycamore Pool and Big Chico Creek they say severely sickened their kids.
Right now, there’s a no swim advisory at the popular swimming hole and creek.
It was issued out of concern that a harmful E. coli strain could be in the water. Some kids who swam in the area were hospitalized and face kidney failure.
Lawyer: Sycamore Pool needs more testing
Three families have hired Bill Marler with the firm Marler Clark. He’s an attorney who handles foodborne illness and bacteria outbreak cases.
“This was sort of an accident waiting to happen,” Marler said.
He said swimming holes were once considered safe decades ago, but nowadays they need more monitoring to catch newer, more dangerous strains of E. coli.
“Fifty years ago, 40 years ago, you probably could swim in the Sycamore Pool and not think twice about it. But there's something that's really changed, and it's this really, really, really deadly pathogen,” Marler said.
The specific strain found in the sickened kids is E. coli O157. It’s relatively new, being first discovered in the 1980s. This strain of E. coli usually comes from cows and geese, and is not naturally occurring in water.
Officials and lawyers await test results
The City of Chico typically tests the pool once a week during the summer, but only for general E.coli, not specific strains. That follows EPA guidelines, and is usually used to detect if there are other contaminants in the water.
It’s not clear if the pool or creek actually contains the E. coli that infected the kids. The county has sent water samples to the CDC for testing to see if it’s present.
Meanwhile, Marler’s firm is investigating if the cases are linked to the creek, and whether the families should take legal action.
“These are serious injuries that require public health and the city government to pay attention,” Marler said. “Sometimes a lawsuit is a great way of focusing folks' attention.”
City and Butte County Public Health Department officials said they’re discussing future testing protocols to help prevent cases like this from happening again.
