KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Residents in a Parkville neighborhood were on edge after a gas line was hit Tuesday evening while crews were in the area installing Google Fiber.
This incident comes nearly 24 hours after part of a home exploded in Independence due to a gas line also being hit while Google Fiber was being installed.
Across the state line, another natural gas line was hit by a contractor in Shawnee. The Shawnee Fire Department has not said what was being installed.
“We do our due diligence whenever locating gas, we triple-check everything,” said Joshua Nance.
Nance is a utility locator. His job is to make sure gas lines are properly located, spray lines on the ground, and put up flags for contractors before they dig.
“We’re always aware of the dangers that come with locating gas,” said Nance.
With an influx of gas lines being hit in recent days, he said there are several reasons why this has been happening.
He said locators mismarking, contractors digging too fast, or ignoring the markings are among those. Still, Nance said he believes the issue lies with too many contractors not being familiar with the area they are working on.
“There’s a lot of new contractors coming through putting in Google Fiber, coming from out of state,” explained Nance, “Most of the contractors from the state communicate really well with the locators like myself and we constantly, constantly communicate back and forth. They communicate to us and kind of double-check everything. They shoot things to us way before they get to a project.”
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According to Missouri 811, the resource you’re supposed to call before you dig, the reason for an increase in gas line breaks is because of an increase in projects.
“With an increase in locate requests, increase in excavations that are occurring eventually the number of damages are going to increase,” said Randy Norden, Executive Director of Missouri 811.
Nordon said they receive a million tickets a year. Out of those, 10,000 of them end up being labeled as “damage tickets.”
The company installing Google Fiber that led to an explosion at an Independence home, did in fact contact Missouri 811 before digging.
“The ticketing aspect, the notifications — there was no issues there. Something has occurred within in the process of the construction which may also involve the process of locating,” said Norden.
Norden said what happened in Independence could have ended badly and is a good public safety reminder.
“It should bring to light to everybody and remind us all, before you excavate contact Missouri 811, and if you are the excavator follow the rules, and if you are the locator make sure you due diligence in locating the utilities properly,” said Nance.
To contact Missouri 811 click here.
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Read More: Experts weigh in after contractors strike gas lines across state lines