Rully Padios’s father came to Guam in the 1970s in pursuit of the American Dream. He settled in Hagat where he built their family dream home from the ground up.

But inside and underground, it's been a nightmare the past year.

A normal day last summer at the residence in Hagat changed for the worse all too quickly.

“It happened when I was watching TV. So all of a sudden, because I haven't stepped on the ground yet, I started to smell something weird. Then all of a sudden I stepped on the floor,” He said.

For three weeks, raw sewage gushed out and flooded the home his late father built.

Padios said, “You have toilet paper, you have raw sewage, waste coming out of my drains. And I can’t stop it. I'm freaking out. 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 and his 83-year-old mother left to deal with the mess and dangerous waste.

Guam Waterworks Authority told him his lines were clogged but he knew the problem wasn’t on his end.

“GWA activates their water jetter and they shot the water jet here on the public road. And it took a while before the sewage starts seeping through the ground. Lot of sewage is seeping out– I have it all on video by the way,” He said.

He captured this footage showing GWA crews unclogging the main line up his street with sewage spewing out. He said, “Then all of a sudden, the water in my lines all went down. It drained. So it’s not my line. It’s the government’s line.”

Last October, he filed a claim against GWA, seeking 17-thousand dollars in damages.

“The inside of this [home] was damaged. I'm a corporate safety director. I'm an osha instructor. I do environmental work also. Raw sewage is very dangerous,” Padios said.

Under the Government Claims Act, they had 6 months to investigate and come to a decision but Padios contends his due process rights were violated.

“6 months came, which was in April. Nobody calls me up. And it was very difficult because you got contamination. You have my 83 year old mom here and that became personal to me,” Padios expressed.

He finally received a response in May that they were still investigating.

Then come July, a final decision that GWA found no liability in his claim, instead an offer of $1500 to close the case. “GWA [general manager] denied my claim due to the fact that my dad was hooked up to a non sanctioned sewer line,” He said.

Now he’s fighting their claims. “If you are hooked up to a non-sanctioned sewer line, why are we paying for sewage or water service for the last 30 years?” He asked.

His own investigation showed standing water in GWA’s main line. Padios says it's evidence of a broken sewer line.

He said, “The flow is not steady. With a break, there's a tendency for toilet paper to build up and cause a backflow.”

His case is now before the Guam Attorney General.

Padios is suing GWA and its General Manager Miguel Bordallo for defamation, punitive damages, negligence and malice from a public official.

“It’s not about the money now. It’s becoming personal. He defamed my family. I cannot let my mom take that to her grave,” Padios expressed.

Meanwhile, GWA maintains their stance.

They said, “"GWA reviewed and investigated Mr. Padios' claim for damages and for all allegations of GWA negligence and found no liability for the failure that caused sewage to back up into his residence. The GWA-owned sewer mains in the right-of-way were flowing without issue, and the “blockage” Mr. Padios experienced was isolated to Mr. Padios’ residence and his private lateral which also has a non-sanctioned private connection.

As part of the complaint investigation, GWA assisted and did resolve the blockage on Mr. Padios' private lateral; however, the blockage had nothing to do with GWA-owned sewer mains which were operating properly. Mr. Padios has been advised that if he disagrees with GWA's findings that he can file suit in the Superior Court of Guam pursuant to the laws of Guam and the government claims act."

For now, Padios is taking GWA to court for $175-thousand in damages.