Construction Crews Dig Up Trouble : Firms Fail to Check With SDG&E; and Cut Gas Pipelines

In what has become an often dangerous ritual that can occur dozens of times a day, San Diego Gas & Electric crews rushed to a San Diego neighborhood Wednesday morning to repair a gas line cut by construction workers.

No injuries were reported in the 9:45 a.m. Point Loma incident that caused the evacuation of 20 residents of a building at Chatsworth Boulevard and Quimby Street.

The emergency came to a quiet end when service was restored at 12:45 p.m. But it might have ended tragically, an SDG&E; spokeswoman said, because both workers and nearby residents could have been injured when the pipe carrying gas under 60 pounds pressure per square inch was split.

SDG&E; officials said it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed because of careless digging by construction companies.

Spokeswoman Karen Duncan said that, on some days, SDG&E; work crews repair dozens of lines damaged by construction companies. According to SDG&E; figures, the utility’s work crews responded to 1,100 “dig-ins” in 1985 and have been called out 375 times this year.

Two years ago SDG&E; crews responded to one dig-in per week, but today the utility’s seven districts in the county are repairing three to seven leaks per day in each district, Duncan said.

“Many of these are very routine, but it’s the ones that aren’t routine that we’re concerned about. Each dig-in has potential for fatality, but so far nobody in San Diego County has died. We’ve been very lucky,” she said. “We haven’t had any fatalities, but we will.”

Duncan said that workers and residents had two narrow escapes this summer.

A contractor was digging a swimming pool in the backyard of a La Mesa home when he dug into a gas line. The gas leaked into the house, where it was ignited by a pilot light. The house exploded as the homeowners were on the walkway headed toward the front door.

A few days later in Penasquitos, a backhoe operator escaped serious injury when he severed a gas line and sparked an explosion. The operator was unscathed but the machine was destroyed, Duncan said.

SDG&E; officials said they do not know what these repairs are costing the utility, but they said the costs ultimately are passed on to customers. These added costs are especially distressing, said Duncan, since all dig-ins can be avoided if a contractor makes one phone call before digging.

State law mandates that contractors call a special toll-free number 48 hours before digging, in order to learn where all utility lines are buried in the excavation area. However, Duncan said that 70% of the contractors in San Diego County do not bother calling because it is cheaper for them to risk severing utility lines than to wait 48 hours for the site to be marked.

“The service is free but contractors have said that it costs them too much money to wait until the lines are marked out before digging,” Duncan said. “Plus, they say that if that’s done they will have to dig around the lines by hand, so it’s cheaper for them to dig with their machines, sever the lines and have our crews go out and repair them.”

When the utility does receive restitution for the ruptured lines, it is usually paid by the contractor’s insurance company.

Gov. George Deukmejian signed a bill earlier this month that will put some teeth into the existing law that requires contractors to call before digging. The measure, which will become effective on Jan. 1, authorizes a $5,000 fine every time a utility line is severed.