A February 2014, infrastructure accident in Clarksburg, WV, that killed three people and injured two more has become a negligence lawsuit. SBA Telecommunications and SBA Towers filed suit December 10 against S&S Communication Specialists and FDH Engineering in the Northern District of West Virginia over the collapse of two of SBA’s communication towers.
According to the West Virginia Record, case number 15-CV-228-IMK, claims that SBA contracted FDH “in 2012 for design and construction relating to the communication tower.” The suit claims “FDH recommended maintenance procedures for Tower 1 in April 2013 after construction was completed, was engaged to perform the work and subsequently subcontracted with S&S to execute the work. S&S personnel arrived at the worksite February 1 unknown to either party and attempted to perform the work before previously approved roadway improvements were completed.” S&S, motivated by “unseasonably warm weather,” was in the midst of replacing diagonal supports on Tower 1 when it collapsed after diagonal supports were removed. The plaintiffs allege that five supports were removed; while the foreman in charge initially claimed that only two or three were eliminated, he later ‘admitted’ to the number being four or five, the complaint states,” the West Virginia Record reports. Continue Reading
Four S&S workers were on the tower at the time of the collapse. Two died and two were seriously injured. Additionally, when Tower 1 fell, “it allegedly struck wires supporting Tower 2.” This caused the tower to fall 30 minutes later, killing a volunteer firefighter on the ground that had been summoned to aid survivors, according to the complaint.
SBA is asking for $1 million in damages with interest, attorneys’ fees and other costs in the suit, which alleges that FDH did not “perform adequate safety assessment and comply with industrial safety standards; and breached their contract with SBA. The plaintiffs claim that FDH agreed to indemnify SBA for damages as per their original contract.”
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