A new law in Farmville, VA makes accidentally cutting buried fiber lines an expensive mistake. The Farmville Herald reported that the law went into effect on July 1, with fines ranging from $2,500 – $5,000 for cuts that miss the mark.
The new law is part of the state’s Underground Utilities Damage Prevention Act, initially passed in 1979. The original legislature was established to “prevent damage to underground utility lines during excavation or demolition,” reported the Herald.
So how does prevention work? According to James Garrett, president and CEO of Kinex Telecom Inc, a company must contact the Virginia Utility Protection Service to report a dig location before laying fiber. Then, the agency alerts companies with existing cables to hire a third party to mark the areas where lines are buried.
Problem solved, right? Not so fast, according to Garrett. He commented that the new law and process “might not solve anything.”
“When the locator is responsible, and they have to pay for the repair, then if you report them to the State Corporation Commission for a fine, that does nothing more than jeopardize the relationship that is invaluable in this day and time of labor shortages,” he added.
The Herald gave an example of this scenario. Telephone operator Brightspeed hired a third party (Stake Center Locating Inc.) to mark lines for a project, but the [inaccurate] spots were a few feet from the cut lines. According to Garrett, he was involved with the project, and all parties worked together to solve the errors. The result, he said, was better documentation on who was at fault, causing Stake Center to put more emphasis on quality and timeliness.
“The real solution is to communicate so the problem can be identified, then work to solve it,” he concluded.
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