9 Investigates

9 Investigates: No fines paid to NC board created to enforce safety laws

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Channel 9 investigation found that a North Carolina board responsible for enforcing safety laws for underground digging has yet to force a single company to pay a fine since it was created more than two years ago.

North Carolina lawmakers passed a law which established the Underground Damage Prevention Review Board in October 2014. The board is made up of 15 governor-appointed individuals from public and private utility entities across the state.

[Underground Utility Safety and Damage Prevention Act]

North Carolina 811, a not-for-profit, is supposed to receive allegations of violations and pass them to the board. The board then reviews cases and makes recommendations for training or fines before sending it to the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

The general counsel for the commission told Channel 9 that it has not received letters for recommendations of fines from the board.

A docket category specifically created for cases the board passes along still showed no entries as of Thursday.

The board chairman, Chris McGee, told Channel 9 it has made progress given the time and resources it has available. McGee said that in the last several months the board reviewed cases ordering training and fines, though no fines have been paid.

One company that wants to pay its fine still doesn't know who to write the check too, McGee said.

'Our constituents were getting hurt'

A crew was digging near the corner of Shearers Road and Timberview Lane, south of Mooresville, in 2010 when George Hall heard a loud commotion at the edge of his yard.

He hustled over to see what had happened and saw workers jumping into a hole to pull out an unconscious man.

State Department of Labor investigation files, obtained by Channel 9, identified the man as Marcelo Estrada Avianeda. He had struck a 7,200-volt electrical line. A ProMark utility locator employee sent out earlier to mark the lines had failed to properly mark the location, state investigators later found.

"I just couldn't help but notice no red marks and this guy has been electrocuted," Hall said.

The incident sparked lawmakers to review decades-old underground damage laws.

Former Republican House Majority Leader Mike Hager helped spearhead the combined effort between politicians and industry leaders.

"Our constituents were getting hurt, and some killed, because of this issue," Hager said. "The federal government was actually pushing our state to do something about it because we were behind a lot of other states in damage control prevention."

Then-Gov. Pat McCrory signed legislation in 2013 beefing up several aspects of the law. It made it mandatory that companies become NC 811 members. It also established an Underground Damage Prevention Review Board to review alleged violations.

"This board was set up to review cases and complaints they would get from folks that have stuff in the ground, from neighbors, really from anybody, to see really if there was an egregious effort not to follow the rules," Hager said.

Board in its early stages

Channel 9 began requesting records and information about the board's activity in January.

Sam Watson, general counsel for the State Utilities Commission, said he has not received any letters from the board recommending he enforce action on any companies.

The board is supposed to send cases to the commission to enforce its actions.

Chris McGee, the board's chairman, declined an on-camera interview, but eventually agreed to speak via recorded phone call. He said the board was delayed as it waited on gubernatorial appointments. The board then had to establish a process for how it would function.

While there is no official record of the board's actions with the commission, McGee claimed it has been reviewing cases. He said one company has already completed a training course as a penalty, and that the board has also sent letters fining companies, though none had paid as of Tuesday.

"We have already had companies wanting to know, ‘Who do we write the check too?’" McGee said. “That’s the other thing, the legislation doesn't really spell out who we write the check to. We're trying to figure that part out."

McGee said the board does not have funding, administrative staff or legal counsel. He said board members are often left reviewing cases late at night and that they also pay their own way to go to meetings.

"These guy are traveling on their own dime or their company's dime," McGee said.

The board sent a letter to the Legislature last year, asking for help with funding an attorney. It is trying to get the help again from the new general assembly.

Hager said its routine that legislation will need changes to be perfected.

"I think any time you have a piece of legislation like this, you're always going to need tweaks two or three years down the road, and that's what they are doing," Hager said.

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