July 28, 2010

Column

Underground utilities disaster looms

It seems that we only learn once a disaster has occurred. The massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the latest example of government and industry ignoring a potential problem until the worst-case scenario unfolds.

In the case of BP, it cost 11 lives, at least 354 million litres of oil, and $70 billion dollars worth of stock value for the company so far.

The large-scale destruction of the fishing industry, tourism and the environment will take decades to repair.

BP and the U.S. government have been the subject of talk show barbs and editorial criticism on a daily basis.

B.C. faces it’s own potential man made disaster in the form of ruptures of underground utilities. There is currently no effective and systematic approach to ensuring that an underground gas line or other utility is not struck during a disturbance of the ground.

There have been at least two close calls in the last couple of years. An oil pipeline was hit by an excavator in Burnaby. The accidental breach caused oil to gush all over a residential area and pollute the ground.

Miraculously, no one was killed.

In another near disaster, a gas line was ruptured in Victoria. The high risk of explosion closed the area for more than 24 hours. Fortunately again, no lives were lost.

However, these avoidable accidents are just the tip of the iceberg. From 2005 to 2009, there were 268 contacts with underground utilities reported to WorkSafeBC.

Many of these had the potential to literally blow up in our faces. We don’t know how many other hits went unreported.

The Council of Construction Associations (COCA) is joining the B.C. Construction Association (BCCA) in calling for two specific actions:

• Gas utility companies should be responsible for doing field marking and locating to identify their underground utilities.
• Membership in BC One-Call should be mandated for all underground utility owners.

The BCCA strongly recommends that the provincial government amend gas regulations to require field marking and locating to be done by the gas utility owner.

B.C. is the only jurisdiction in North America that doesn’t follow this best practice to protect both workers and the public.

Problems with the current process are clear and simple:

There is no co-ordination of information on the location of underground utilities. A contractor or other person, who wishes to dig – including a homeowner – cannot call a single number as they can in virtually all U.S. states. We do not have a true BC One Call system.

Another major problem is that the maps that are provided on the underground facilities are sometimes inaccurate – the gas line may be metres away from its location on the map.

This may result in inadvertent contact with machinery and increases the risk of a hit. Yet, due to the lack of regulation, some gas utility companies have elected to no longer do field marking in B.C. and instead count on their mapping and the “expertise” of the individual digging to keep the public and nearby workers safe.

The Common Ground Alliance represents all stakeholders involved in underground utilities in the U.S. and it is tasked by the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop safe digging practices.

Their Best Practice Manual clearly advises that utilities owner/operators should locate and mark their underground utilities and that such a service should be provided at no cost to excavators.

It’s disturbing that B.C. doesn’t support such a best practice. It is time for everyone, politicians, utility owners, contractors and municipalities, to realize that it is only a matter a time before an underground utility hit results in a catastrophe in B.C. – with large loss of life and major disruption and costs for all concerned.

Grant McMillan is the president of COCA, which represents 21 construction associations and acts on behalf of the construction industry in WorkSafeBC matters.

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