Lawsuit to put spotlight on covers for septic tanks

In a press conference Thursday, a Kalispell attorney said he hopes a lawsuit against Evergreen Water and Sewer and others in regard to a toddler’s 2007 death will put more emphasis on child safety.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Butte District Court, stems from the Jan. 24, 2007, death of Loic Rogers, who drowned in a septic tank on property off of Maple Drive in Evergreen.

Two lawsuits have been filed, the first against the local septic tank manufacturer as well as the distributor of the tank cover. The second is against the developer of the property, Evergreen Water and Sewer District and an engineering firm.

The suit was filed on behalf of the estate of Loic Rogers and trustees for the child’s parents, Ariel James and Mark Rogers.

During the press conference, Kalispell lawyer Lee Henning, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the tragedy could have been prevented had the septic tank been equipped with what he referred to as a “kid catcher,” a plastic apparatus that looks like a large strainer and fits inside the mouth of a septic tank.

Henning jumped on the device to demonstrate its durability.

The tank which Loic fell into wasn’t equipped with the device, according to the suit. The suit also alleges that the tank’s location near the driveway posed a safety risk and that its lid protruded too far above ground, which made it vulnerable to vehicle damage.

Prior to Loic’s death, a vehicle damaged the lid of the Maple Drive tank.

Roberta Struck, general manager of the Evergreen Water and Sewer District, said the district has not yet seen any paperwork about the suit. She said Evergreen Water and Sewer doesn’t have any kid catchers and she hasn’t heard of any other cases of kids falling into and drowning in septic tanks. She said Evergreen Water and Sewer wasn’t notified of the damaged tank before the boy’s death.

In addition to the sewer district, JB Estates, Robert Rinke, John Coziahr, Rinke’s Red Hawk Ranch and Carver Engineering have been named as defendants. Carver Engineering was contacted for this story, but had no comment.

Henning said the case was filed in Butte because of “legal reasons” but declined to comment further on the matter.