Page 7 - Mississippi 811 Magazine 2020 Issue 3

While there have been some enforcement actions taken by the board, they have been predominantly corrective in nature and relatively few.
Sandy said laws to protect underground facilities have been on the books for quite a while, but the law didn’t provide for any enforcement mechanism. It took five to six years of negotiations among the stakeholders in the state to agree on language and get that language passed through the state legislature.
“We [the Enforcement Board] are set up to make people aware of the law, follow the law and penalize when necessary,” he said. “I think it’s done in an atmosphere where we aren’t trying to be a revenue producer or shut people down. Our goal is just to make people do what the law says — basic things like call before you dig, mark lines in a timely manner and stay clear of the lines.”
While the Enforcement Board has investigative powers and can call in investigators from the Pipeline Safety Division, that’s rarely done. The majority of complaints rely heavily on information provided by the aggrieved party that makes the board aware of the violation.
A lot of the evidence is temporary in nature — think paint lines that get washed away or trenches that get filled in — documenting the infraction at the time it occurs is nearly as important as filing the complaint. Neither the excavator nor the utility wants to hold up a repair or stop work for a formal investigation when a few photos and a contemporaneous note will suffice.
“We rely heavily on the person making the complaint to have enough evidence to get things started,” said Sandy.
“The board has to rely on the utility showing a picture of the line and where it was cut. Without that, once the damage is repaired and buried, we don’t have access to it. People are starting to figure out that you have to document and take pictures at the time of the incident, or there’s not much we can do about the complaint.”
He likened it to a car wreck on the highway — you can’t leave a car blocking traffic for weeks while an investigation proceeds — you just document what you can and move the cars to the shoulder.
“Life goes on and you do the best you can,” Sandy said.
The accused person has ample opportunity to provide
their own evidence and defend themselves before the Enforcement Board, but Sandy said there needs to be a push to make everybody aware of their rights. That’s particularly important, as the whole goal of investigating incidents and confronting violators is to educate them and bring them into compliance — not to be unduly punitive.
However, there are a few things that the Enforcement Board can investigate, like searching records to determine whether or not a ticket was submitted, or check the dates on a ticket to see if perhaps the utility didn’t mark their facilities in a timely manner.
Ultimately though, the more evidence a complainant can provide to the board, the better. And as all parties learn to approach the process with honesty and candor, a safer Mississippi will be the ultimate reward.
2020, Issue 3
Mississippi 811 • 5