Page 18 - Alabama

Non-Conflicting Interests
By Joe Igel
My wife and I recently went for a walk at a nearby park. It was a beautiful sunny day. As we walked along, we noted that most other walkers had their phones in hand, apparently not to take photos, but more apparently to check screens for some information perceived as necessary. I thought of the Mark Twain quote about golf, calling it “a good walk ruined” and thought the same of the walkers distracted by their phones.
Despite this observation, we all realize that, in today’s world, the availability of high- speed internet in many rural and less densely populated areas is minimal. Yet it is much needed. The federal government recognized this need among many others, passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. This is a huge commitment. States are all seeking federal funding to complete this work, which is moving at a rapid pace.
Connectivity via high-speed internet is critical to a better way of life and much
more. While we may all dislike some of the uses of such connectivity, the benefits far outweigh the “evils”. During the pandemic, we learned that online doctor visits worked well. They are now much more frequent. Education has become more routine online. Communication of and during emergencies is enhanced. This is all happening and
will continue to expand into other disciplines. The frustration of waiting longer for a connection than the work itself would require will hopefully end. Accomplishing this will be a difficult project and will require a great deal of effort from all parties to the process.
While the rules for underground excavation, proper notification, and individual and corporate responsibilities will all remain, they should not be cast in stone when it comes to serving the common good.
It seems that after nearly ten years with true enforcement in the State of Ohio, the
two largest areas of compliance violations remain excavators’ failure to call and utilities’ failure to mark. The Underground Technical Committee in Ohio regularly receives a sizable number of such complaints. The failure to call or notify is often a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge as to how the process works, possibly a missed personnel assignment where it was unclear who had the responsibility. The failure
to mark is often the result of a barrage of locate requests, more than the third-party locators can handle. If this entire process is to move forward, all parties are going to have to give a bit, communicate and cooperate more.
Give and take must be the rule.
There will most definitely be a large influx of excavators, contractors, and subcontractors, coming into these underserved areas. Many will be from various states and while they should have a basic understanding of underground dig laws, they may be unaware of the state-to-state variances. There will need to be continual communication between these excavators and the utilities they will be operating around. The answer is not tolerating damage, not logging near misses, but true and open communication so that they understand how to get their issues resolved without solely relying upon the One Call. When a line remains unmarked after the specified time, forcing an excavator to call again is frustrating and often does not answer the issue.
This may be challenging for the utilities. Many of the lines potentially impacted are isolated, perhaps old with damaged tracer wires or just old and poor mapping. The demands placed upon all to complete this work will require a spirit of cooperation among the stakeholders. They will need to work side-by-side with excavators in the field. Excavators should not dig with abandon but should also work cooperatively with the utility companies. All parties can and will learn from this process.
The ability to put the baggage from previous damages and court actions aside and develop a philosophy of cooperation, an ability to listen and hear what the other parties are dealing with just may be one of the biggest unsung benefits from this effort.
16 • Alabama 811
2024, Issue 2