City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a municipal corporation v. New Projects General Remodeling, LLC

Let’s be honest: you don’t expect a chimney repair to cause a full-blown municipal sewer collapse. But in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one contractor’s boneheaded decision to dig a hole directly on top of a city sewer line—and then pile concrete blocks into it like they’re playing Jenga with public infrastructure—turned a routine home maintenance job into a $250,000 taxpayer-funded disaster. This isn’t just a case of “oops, we hit a pipe.” This is a masterclass in how not to do construction, starring a chimney, a crumbling sewer main, and a cast of characters who apparently never once Googled “what not to build on.”

So who are these people? On one side, we’ve got the City of Tulsa—yes, the entire city, personified like some aggrieved homeowner in a sitcom—suing not because it has a personal vendetta, but because its sewer system got treated like a footstool during a DIY renovation. Represented by attorney Kristina L. Gray (who, bless her, probably thought she’d be dealing with zoning disputes, not plumbing-based negligence), the city is out here trying to recoup the cost of fixing what should’ve been a preventable mess.

On the other side? A homeowner couple, Miguel A. Pacheco and Gabrielle I. Rubio, who bought the house at 1814 S. 110th E. Avenue in February 2024 and almost immediately decided the chimney needed stabilizing. Fair enough—chimneys leaning like the Tower of Pisa are a fire hazard. But here’s where things get… questionable. They hired a local contractor, New Projects General Remodeling, LLC, owned by one Jose Dominguez, to do the job. Now, you’d think “general remodeling” would include basic spatial awareness, but apparently not. Because the chimney they were fixing? It wasn’t just sitting on the property. It was sitting on top of a city easement—a legally protected strip of land where Tulsa’s sewer main runs. Think of it like a utility strip: you don’t build on it, you don’t dig in it, you definitely don’t start piling concrete blocks on it like you’re auditioning for Extreme Home Makeover: Sewer Edition.

But that’s exactly what happened. On February 27, 2024, the contractor crew shows up, assesses the wobbly chimney, and instead of, say, consulting city records or calling a structural engineer, they decide the best solution is to dig a hole under the chimney—which, again, is directly over the sewer line—and stick concrete blocks in there to “stabilize” it. It’s the kind of move that makes engineers weep. Imagine trying to fix a wobbly table by digging a trench under the leg and then adding more weight. Genius. Except in this case, the table leg was a 50-year-old sewer pipe, and the weight was literal concrete.

Spoiler: the pipe collapsed. Not “cracked.” Not “needed repairs.” Collapsed. Sewage started bubbling up into the yard like some kind of cursed geyser. The city got a call: “Hey, your manhole at 1808 S. 110th is erupting like Old Faithful, but with more toilet paper.” Crews rushed in, did the detective work, and—surprise, surprise—found that the collapse happened directly under the Pachecos’ chimney, where the contractor had been digging and stacking blocks like they were building a pyramid for a very unfortunate pharaoh.

The result? A repair bill that ballooned past $250,000. That’s not a typo. A quarter of a million dollars to fix a sewer line that wouldn’t have needed fixing if someone—anyone—had just looked before they dug. The city sent the contractor an invoice. It went unpaid. Cue the lawsuit.

Now, legally speaking, the city is making one big claim: negligence. And not just garden-variety “I forgot to lock the gate” negligence. This is “you knowingly dug in a restricted utility zone and buried concrete on top of critical infrastructure” negligence. The city argues that the contractor—New Projects General Remodeling and Jose Dominguez—had a duty to do the job safely and avoid damaging public property. They didn’t. They dug where they shouldn’t have, added weight where they shouldn’t have, and boom: sewer apocalypse.

But here’s the twist: the homeowners aren’t off the hook either. The city says Miguel Pacheco and Gabrielle Rubio knew or should have known that the chimney was in a city easement. They hired the contractor anyway. They approved the work. They didn’t stop the concrete block buffet. So under the law, they’re on the hook too—not for doing the work, but for enabling it. It’s like if you hire a painter who decides to paint your neighbor’s house too, and then sues you for not stopping him. You’re not the one holding the brush, but you’re the one who opened the door.

And what does the city want? $250,000. Is that a lot? For a chimney repair? Absolutely. For fixing a collapsed sewer line that serves an entire neighborhood and requires excavation, pipe replacement, road restoration, and environmental cleanup? Honestly? It might even be cheap. We’re talking about heavy machinery, permits, labor, disposal, inspections—the whole nine yards. That’s not a handyman fee. That’s a municipal infrastructure emergency. And let’s not forget: the city isn’t asking for punitive damages, or a court order to jail the contractor in a sewer pipe (which, honestly, would’ve made for better TV). They just want their money back. No vengeance. Just receipts.

So what’s our take? Look, we’ve covered lawsuits over stolen chickens, feuding squirrels, and a man who sued his neighbor because his dog wouldn’t stop howling at the moon. But this one? This is art. It’s the perfect storm of willful ignorance, zero due diligence, and the kind of construction logic that suggests someone thought, “Hey, what’s the worst that could happen if we just… pile concrete on the city’s spine?” The most absurd part isn’t even the collapse—it’s that nobody stopped to ask if this was a bad idea. No call to the city. No “Hey, is there anything important under here?” No utility check. Nothing. It’s like they treated public infrastructure like a game of Operation: just don’t touch the sides, and if you do, well, hope the city picks up the tab.

We’re not rooting for anyone to go to jail. But we are rooting for this case to become a mandatory training video for contractors: “Don’t Build on Sewers: A Cautionary Tale.” Because if there’s one thing Tulsa’s sewer system didn’t sign up for, it’s being the foundation for a chimney support project. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned? Never trust a remodeling company whose idea of “stabilizing” involves adding weight to something that’s already underground and holding back raw sewage. That’s not construction. That’s sabotage by incompetence.

And hey, City of Tulsa—we feel you. Your invoice is long overdue. Send us a copy. We’ll help you collect.