Myrtle Beach resort’s pools shut down several times. Now a mom is suing over chemical burns

A North Carolina mother has filed a federal lawsuit against a Myrtle Beach resort after her child allegedly received chemical burns swimming in one of the resort’s pools.

The injury in 2020 resulted in the closure of two of the resort’s pools, as well as the arrest of the pool operator for falsifying the pools’ records.

It’s not the only time in the last three years that the resort has had some of its pools closed for failure to meet state standards, according to records from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control that were obtained from a Freedom of Information request by The Sun News. The most recent pool closing happened in July.

Heather Douglas of Robeson County claims in the suit that her 6-year-old son was swimming in the lazy river at Caribbean Resort & Villas, 3000 N. Ocean Blvd., on May 25, 2020, when he received the burns.

Several defendants are named in the lawsuit, which was filed in June 2021 in Florence, but has had several versions since then. Defendants include Brittain Resorts and Hotels LLC; Ocean Front Investors, doing business as Caribbean Resort & Villas; Caribbean Oceanfront Tower Homeowners Association; Ally Management; and Hucks Pool Co.

Alicia Noel Bolyard, an attorney representing Brittain Resorts, Ocean Front Investors and Caribbean Oceanfront Tower HOA, declined July 31 to comment on the lawsuit. Hucks Pool’s attorney Jesse Ryan Oates also declined to comment.

The child was sent to a burn center after an injury didn’t get better

According to the suit, the child “spent a substantial amount of time” playing in a lazy river on May 25. Later in the day, the child’s skin around his groin and buttocks became red and worsened despite the mother’s attempts to treat it.

The mother then took the child to the doctor on May 26 and 27, 2020, and was also seen at Southeastern Regional Medical Center’s emergency department in Lumberton, North Carolina, on May 27, the suit said.

The medical center initiated a transfer to the University of Chapel Hill Jaycee Burn Center, where the child was admitted for seven days and underwent treatment. The burn center diagnosed the child with chemical burns, which is believed to have occurred from “an overchlorinated pool at the Caribbean Resort & Villas,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit says on May 27, 2020, the mother’s aunt contacted the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control about the pools’ safety at Caribbean Resort & Villas.

DHEC conducted an inspection on May 27 and temporarily closed the resort’s spa and lazy river. Pool records for that day show that chlorine levels at the spa and lazy river were greater than 10, which is outside the regulatory range of 1 to 8 parts per million.

Aunt’s complaint initiated state’s inspections, closures

DHEC’s inspection of the Caribbean Resort pools on May 27 was prompted by the aunt’s complaint.

The state agency conducts two routine public swimming pool inspections a year on all active and operating pools in the state, according to an email response from DHEC. Complaint inspections are conducted when the agency receives notice from the public that they are concerned with a public swimming pool.

According to DHEC’s report, two separate tests of Caribbean Resort’s lazy river and a spa on that day showed chlorine levels of greater than 10. Tests also showed that the pH level at the lazy river was at 8.10, which is greater than the state’s regulatory range of 7 to 7.8.

DHEC closed both facilities until corrections were made.

In March, DHEC’s office of criminal investigations arrested Juan Arocho Rivera on charges of forgery for falsifying chlorine and pH levels written on pool inspection logs at the resort. Rivera was employed as a pool operator for the Caribbean Resort and Spa, according to the arrest warrant.

His actions caused the young boy to receive the chemical burns, according to a criminal report. During a deposition following the juvenile’s injuries on Dec. 16, Rivera admitted that he did not work on May 24 and 25, 2020, and instead falsified the inspection logs on May 26, 2020, the report said.

Some resort pools closed in last three years for various issues

Multiple factors can cause a pool to be closed, but more immediate problems include electrical shock hazards, suction outlet safety, non-compliant fencing/gates for preventing child access, lack of safety equipment, low or high chlorine or pH levels and failure to maintain daily chemistry readings and readings three times a week by a pool operator of record in a log book, according to DHEC.

The agency said it’s the responsibility of the facility or pool operator to ensure their pool meets state regulations.

Some of these closures last less than a day depending on the issues, DHEC said. If a facility is actively working on making corrections and not waiting on a contractor to respond to a specific request, items can be fixed anywhere from 30 minutes to a week.

Caribbean Resort boasts more than 14 pools on its website. That includes outdoor and indoor pools, kiddie pool, spas and at least one lazy river.

Following the pools’ closures in 2020, Caribbean Resort was also forced to close some of its facilities in 2021, 2022 and twice this year, according to DHEC records.

• On June 18, 2021, the resort’s kiddie pool and spa were closed for their chlorine levels during routine inspections. The kiddie pool had a chlorine level of greater than 10, while the spa had a level of .3.

• On June 13, 2022, a pool, two spas and kiddie pool were closed after a routine inspection because the gate to each facility did not self-close and latch. One of the spas also had low chlorine readings.

• On April 13, 2023, a complaint inspection was performed and three pools, a kiddie pool, four spas and two lazy rivers were closed. According to the report, at least three of the pools were closed for various issues, including violations of chlorine and pH levels, pool log book not being maintained daily and the gate’s self-close and latch not working. Chlorine readings at one pool showed 0 and .1 at another. Readings at one spa showed a chlorine level of 10, while two others had ranges from 0 to .1.

• On July 7, 2023, a pool was closed after a routine inspection of a slide permit showed a violation of not maintaining the pool log book.

As of July 31, DHEC had conducted more than 6,700 public pool inspections in the state, according to the state agency. Of those, about 40% required at least temporary closure due to deficiencies.

Young boy still receiving treatments for burns

The mother and son were vacationing at the Myrtle Beach resort when the incident occurred, according to Kenneth Berger, a Columbia attorney who represents Douglas in the suit.

The young boy has undergone several medical procedures since 2020, and is still receiving laser treatment for scarring from the burns, Berger said.

“They never expected it to happen to them,” he said. “You’re at a resort and the next thing you know your child has chemical burns.”

The mother filed the suit because she doesn’t want it to happen to anyone else, Berger said. “Without accountability, there’s never going to be any change,” he said.

Berger said there have been several versions of the suit because people kept pointing fingers at others.

The HOA has possession of the pools and hires Caribbean Resort & Villas to maintain the pools, including the chemical inspections, Berger said.

Rivera was the certified pool operator that was paid by the HOA, Berger said.

According to the suit, Hucks was hired by and contracted with Caribbean Resort and Ally Management to assist in the performance of pool maintenance.

The defendants are accused of not adequately monitoring the chlorine and pH levels in the pools, hiring unqualified and untrained personnel and not monitoring personnel.

The family is seeking compensation, which includes both medical and punitive, according to the suit.