There's now some resolution for a Hagat homeowner who’s home flooded with sewage in the summer of 2022.  After nearly two years, GWA ultimately fixing his sewage lines after denying any liability. Now this homeowner has an ask for senators this election.

About five months ago, Rully Padios shared his story with KUAM after raw sewage flooded his home for weeks in the summer of 2022.  "I can’t stop it. I’m freaking out," he said. "I look at the bathtub. It's full of urine. You can smell it. It’s the first time something like this ever happened to my home."

He filed a claim against the Guam Waterworks Authority in October 2022 but says they failed to act within the required six months under the Government Claims Act. 

Meanwhile, GWA denying any liability and claiming in a letter that his late father, who built the home in the late 1970’s, hooked up to an unsanctioned lateral line.  Padios told us then he would be taking GWA to court for $175,000 in damages after his initial $17,000 claim was denied. 

"It was very difficult because you got contamination in the ground. You have my 83-year-old mom here and that became personal to me," he said.

Now, a resolution nearly two years later since sewage spewed from his drains. "They fixed the sewage about three weeks ago. Why did they fix it? We went to meet the CCU chairman," he said.

A visit to the Consolidated Commission on Utilities resulting in a seemingly positive outcome – GWA fixing and upgrading his lines at no cost to his family.  He sends us this cell phone footage of crews working into the night to get the job done. 

But he’s questioning why it took them this long after denying any liability. "This is sewage exposure. This is not a water leak. This is a sewage exposure with bad contaminants exposed to my mom, my family and the environment because it was seeping into the ground. These are serious things and they didn't act within the 6 months I applied for a claim based on the law," he said.

Now, he has an ask for senators this election.  "Give it back to the people of Guam," he pleaded. "I’m hoping that if anyone is hearing this interview,  tell our senators to put this as a referendum on the ballot box for this election and let the people decide whether we want them or not. Because believe it or not, a lot of people don’t want the CCU to run our power and water."

In the meantime, despite not being able to afford an attorney, the homeowner says he’s still moving forward with his lawsuit but is up for negotiations.