Before excavation begins, companies and contractors are required to notify Iowa One Call to prevent accidentally damaging underground utility lines. (Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed lawsuits against three contractors who allegedly failed to call Iowa One Call before digging and damaged or risked damaging underground utilities.
To prevent accidentally damaging electric, gas, water, sewer or communication utilities while digging, anyone planning to excavate must contact Iowa One Call 48 hours before digging. The weekends and federal holidays do not count toward fulfilling the 48-hour requirement.
Two of the three contractors already have already agreed to resolve their cases by paying civil penalties, according to the attorney general’s office.
“Always call before you dig,” Bird said in a press release. “That one call may be the difference that saves someone from injury or from danger to a community. We all have a role to play in keeping Iowans safe.”
Klima Drainage and Land Improvement
While attempting to install drainage tiles along rural roads in Linn County in March 2023, Klima Drainage and Land Improvement repeatedly dug near natural gas transmission lines without proper notifications, the attorney general’s office alleged.
Klima initially called Iowa One Call about its planned excavation area and notified the owners of nearby gas lines, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), that they would not dig within 25 feet of the lines. However, after Klima’s planned excavation area changed, they informed Iowa One Call but didn’t notify IPL, according to the attorney general’s office.
IPL representatives drove to observe Klima’s excavation and noticed three separate excavations within 25 feet of IPL’s gas lines including one trench within 6 feet of a gas line, according to court documents.
After IPL’s visit, they instructed Klima to stop digging, according to court documents. Three days later, IPL returned to the site and discovered additional excavations near IPL gas lines as well as that the original Klima trench was filled in, court documents state.
According to court documents, this most recent violation is the fourth instance of Klima failing to notify the proper authorities about their excavations since 2000. With every consecutive violation, the civil penalty costs for Klima have increased.
In July 2000, Klima paid $5,000 for violating the Iowa One Call Statute, according to court documents. They paid $8,500 in 2016 for again violating the Iowa One Call statute. Klima violated the same statute for the third time in November 2022 and they paid about $12,500, court documents state.
On Aug. 9, Bird filed a lawsuit against Klima. Klima resolved the case on Wednesday by paying $17,500 in civil penalties.
Eric Fortune Jr.
While excavating a trench in Fort Madison in Lee County in February 2023, Eric Fortune Jr.’s equipment hit a 1-inch natural gas line, according to court documents.
Instead of notifying the line’s owner, emergency response agencies and other local authorities, Fortunate attempted to repair the damage himself, according to court documents.
After hitting the gas line, Fortune failed to leave the equipment where it was as is required by state law, according to court documents.
Bird filed the lawsuit against Fortune in early August and it is still ongoing.
Howser Concrete
Howser Concrete Services was hired to install a foundation for a house in Waukee in Dallas County in May 2023, according to court documents. While excavating the area for the basement, Howser hit an underground electrical line, according to the attorney general’s office.
According to Bird’s press release, Howser incorrectly assumed there would be no nearby underground utility lines since they were working on new construction.
On the same day as the lawsuits against Klima and Fortune, Bird officially sued Howser. Later that day, Howser admitted to the allegations and agreed to pay $750 in civil penalties to resolve the lawsuit, according to the attorney general’s office.
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