Bend to pay some – not all – costs from water main break

The city of Bend announced Thursday it will pay for some emergency work done at several northeast Bend homes flooded by a major water line break last week, but denied any negligence and said it won’t cover other repair or replacement costs.

A 12-inch water main suddenly developed an 8-foot-long crack early on June 10, sending deep water swirling into a few homes and basements, prompting evacuations, road closures and repairs and leaving about 15 homes without water service for much of the day.

Utility officials said the half-century-old cast iron pipe cracked because of its age and the rocky soil it was installed in. Two homes had severe damage, with one basement filled with water.

The city said Thursday its “Utility Department crews were on the scene within 12 minutes of the reported break and were able to throttle down the water line within 38 minutes and contain the damage.”

“Despite their best efforts the water had already affected several homes,” the city statement said.

The city noted it has property and liability coverage through CIS (City-county Insurance Services), as do 98 percent of all cities in Oregon.

“Claims adjusters from CIS have determined that the water main break was not due to negligence of city staff and therefore the city is not at fault for the break,” the announcement said.

“Given no past evidence of failure, the city had no reason to know to repair or replace this section of pipe; the city response to the break was timely and proficient so as to mitigate the incident quickly,” it said.

“Nonetheless, the city is sympathetic to the homeowners’ situation and, working with CIS, will pay for the extraction of water, sanitization and drying of the interior of the homes. Homeowners will need to cover any other damage to real property, replacement of content items and yard work.”

“This is not a situation unique to Bend,: the city statement continued. “Other cities throughout Oregon have been faced with similar situations. If there is a determination that there is no fault on the part of the city, then neither the city nor its insurance carrier is legally liable for damages.”

“Homeowners who are concerned about this type of unforeseen event may want to reach out to their own insurance provider to determine if there is coverage available,” the city of Bend statement concluded.