Three eastern Iowa companies are facing fines for not calling before digging. One of them will pay a 15-thousand dollar fine.Curt and Leo Bockenstedt, owners of C-and-L Drainage of Strawberry Point, are fined in the April 17th incident, which happened in a farm field near Edgewood. Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa’s Attorney General, says the company struck a liquid gas pipeline three times while putting in drainage tile. He says they dented the pipeline twice and the third time they punctured the pipeline.Gas company officials say repairs and other costs are estimated at nearly a half-million dollars.In Scott County, Engelbrecht Brothers Tiling of Eldridge was ordered to pay a 35-hundred dollar fine for failing to notify “One-Call” before digging over a natural gas pipeline and a hazardous materials pipeline. In Winneshiek county, Shindelar Excavating of Ridgeway was fined 15-hundred dollars for failing to call before digging in a drainage ditch on a farm near Decorah. The company was digging about two natural gas pipelines. Brammer says the Iowa “One-Call” law is simple. He says it requires any excavator to call 48 hours before digging to the 24-hour one-call number, and then one call goes out and marks the ground to show where the pipelines are located.Brammer says the Delaware County case shows the damage that can occur, but he says that’s not the only reason to call. He says it’s a matter of safety as people have been killed when they hit buried gas lines. No one was hurt in these three cases. You can reach the One Call center by dialing 800-292-8989.
