Cork floods, 2009, UCC to sue ESB.

[cricket]

If this succeeds, expect a lengthy queue to form quickly :
UCC sues ESB for

[Con Gallagher]

One State entity sues another and it will be the lawyers who get the blame. Rabitte and Quinn need to sort it out, to avoid a precedent and save taxpayers money.
[Edit: for the reasons stated below by Diawlbach, the opinion above is wrong. Aviva has subrogated the claim].

[hammer]

What dividend does the ESB pay the State ?

[Diawlbach]

One State entity sues another and it will be the lawyers who get the blame. Rabitte and Quinn need to sort it out, to avoid a precedent and save taxpayers money.

No, it's not. If you read the article, you'll see it's a subrogated claim brought by Aviva. That means Aviva compensated UCC for this amount, steps into UCC's shoes and is now trying to get the compensation it paid over to UCC back from the ESB. It's an insurance company v. the ESB.

In one way, this may be no bad thing; if the insurance companies get it back from the ESB, they might finally stop dicking around people whose houses were wrecked.

[hammer]

Surely its an insurance company v ESBs insurance company

[Diawlbach]

Surely its an insurance company v ESBs insurance company

Probably, but can't be sure from that report.

['orebel]

Great news.

[former wesleyan]

UCC were warned that the Glucksman was below flood level when it was being built. And at the time of the flood the person in charge didn't heed warnings. Allegedly. Should be interesting, unless the case is settled between insurance companies.

[Pat Gill]

The Commercial Court has set a date to hear a case brought by UCC claiming that the ESB was negligent in respect of its operation of two dams on the River Lee in 2009.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE Cork is suing the Electricity Supply Board for €18 million at the Commercial Court over flood damage suffered in November 2009.
UCC claims the university sustained significant damage to its property on November 19th, 2009, following a period of significant rainfall when the ESB allegedly released a substantial volume of water from two dams operated by it on the river Lee. UCC claims the ESB was negligent and caused severe flooding by releasing too much water in too short a time.
As result of the ESB’s actions, 30 acres of UCC’s 80-acre campus were submerged under water; 29 of the university’s buildings were damaged, including the Glucksman Gallery, the Western Gateway Building, the Maltings Complex, several student accommodation blocks and the entire Mardyke sports complex, it is alleged.

The ESB denies the claims.

UCC, which has brought the action by way of a subrogated claim on behalf of its insurer Aviva, claims the ESB, now known as Electric Ireland, was negligent and in breach of its duty of care to manage the dams and reservoirs properly in a way to minimise the risk of flooding.



UCC sues ESB for €18m over damage from opening dams after heavy rains - The Irish Times - Tue, Jan 17, 2012

This case could get very interesting with possible repercussions throughout the country.



This is a photograph of Lancaster Gate, about a mile away from the UCC campus, taken the day after the 2009 floods.

[Bhagavad Gita]

The action won't get very far. There was an extreme rainfall event in a period ov very wet weather. If the ESB hadn't opened the floodgates there was a real risk that the dam would be overtopped. The decision to flood parts of Cork wasn't taken lightly but was seen as the better option. If thy did not take the course of action they took, parts of cork would have been utterly devastated.