Earlier this year, Iowa’s Attorney General filed seven lawsuits for alleged
violations of Iowa’s One Call Law. In all seven cases, contractors failed to call within 48 hours of digging to have underground utilities marked. All seven cases involved digging near, or actually hitting, natural gas pipes.
Details of the lawsuits/allegations include:
• Ag Repair hit a Northern Natural Gas pipeline, causing $100,000 in damages
• DeLong Construction hit and damaged a one-foot diameter natural gas pipe while excavating as part of a ditch cleaning
• KMA Trucking & Excavating damaged a natural gas line while excavating to plant trees
• Hopkins Roofing of Pella damaged an underground gas line while excavating land to lower the line
• Peterson Tiling & Excavation LLC hit and damaged a natural gas line while excavating as part of a drainage tile installation
• Lynde Construction Inc. hit and damaged a two-inch natural gas line as part of a drainage tiling project
• An independent contractor hit and damaged an underground natural gas line while working on a drainage tile project
All of the incidents occurred in early 2016. “We are concerned when something like this happens,” said Geoff Greenwood, spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General. “It endangers the public when a contractor goes in and digs without calling first and doesn’t know where lines are located.”
