Gas line explosions, electrical line strikes, and underground utility accidents during construction can cause devastating burns, electrocution injuries, catastrophic trauma, and wrongful death. When a contractor hits a buried gas line or power cable, the consequences are often immediate and life-altering.
Many of these accidents occur because contractors fail to follow Georgia’s safety rules requiring advance notice to Georgia 811 before digging. When those rules are violated, injured victims and their families have the right to pursue compensation. Our firm represents people across Georgia who have been harmed in gas line explosions, utility strike accidents, excavation accidents, and construction-related injuries.
Ruppersburg Injury & Accident Attorneys handles serious explosion and construction accident cases statewide, including Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Macon, Savannah, and surrounding communities. We investigate whether the contractor or utility company violated Georgia’s Call Before You Dig law. When safety rules are ignored, we work to hold the responsible parties accountable and recover compensation for medical expenses, lost income, permanent injuries, and wrongful death.
Call us for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we win.
Call Before You Dig Gas Line Explosion Case Result
We secured a confidential settlement for a man who suffered severe burn injuries in a gas line explosion after a construction company violated Georgia’s Call Before You Dig law. Our investigation proved that the company did not follow the safety rules, leading to a full and fair financial recovery for our client.
Read the full story here.
What is Georgia’s Call Before You Dig Law?
O.C.G.A §§ 25-9-1 through 25-9-14 is the Georgia Utility Facility Protection Act. It’s commonly called the Call Before You Dig law. It applies to any person or company that will be digging, excavating, or drilling with mechanized equipment like bulldozers, drills, jackhammers, or blasting using dynamite or explosives.
Here’s how the law works:
- Three business days before digging, you must submit a request to Georgia 811 stating where you will be digging. This is called a “locate ticket.”
- Georgia 811 notifies utility companies that have utilities in the area
- The utility companies mark their utility lines using paint, a flag, or a stake with a color that corresponds to the type of utility line
- The utility companies update the locate ticket in the Georgia 811 database, stating whether they have marked the utility lines or that they don’t have any utility lines in the area
- Once all the utility companies have responded, it’s safe to begin digging
- Companies must dig at least 18 inches around marked utility lines to avoid damaging them. This is called the “tolerance zone.”
- When digging is conducted within the “tolerance zone,” digging must be conducted by hand or other measures to protect the utility lines
Strict Liability for Violating The Act
Under O.C.G.A. §25-9-14, if a person or company that digs or excavates does not follow the Call Before You Dig law and hits a utility line, they are strictly liable for the costs to repair or replace the utility line and any personal injury or property damage it causes.
Strict liability is a legal doctrine that holds a person or company responsible regardless of what happened and whether they were negligent.
For instance, a construction company begins digging with bulldozers without submitting a locate ticket. They hit an electrical line that causes an accident that electrocutes someone. Because they violated the Call Before You Dig law by not submitting a locate ticket, they are responsible. That’s strict liability.
Who is Responsible if a Utility Line Was Not Marked or Marked Incorrectly?
If a utility line was not marked or was marked incorrectly, and that causes an accident, the utility company that incorrectly marked the utility line is responsible.
For instance, a gas company marks one of its gas lines incorrectly. A construction company is digging where it has been marked safe to dig and hits the gas line. The gas company would be responsible.
Who is Responsible If a Utility Line Is Damaged When It’s Marked?
If a utility company correctly marks its utility lines and a company digs and hits the utility line, they would be responsible.
What Utilities Does The Law Apply To?
The law applies to
- Electrical lines
- Gas lines and pipelines
- Oil lines
- Fiber optic cables carrying internet, phone, and data
- Sewage
- Storm drainage
- Water lines
Excavation Injury Cases
Excavation injury cases involve serious harm or wrongful death resulting from a utility strike during digging. These are among the most serious types of construction accident claims. To win, you must prove that the utility company or construction company violated the Georgia Call Before You Dig Law and that the negligence caused injury or death.
Common Causes of Gas Line Explosion and Utility Strike Accidents
- Failure to call 811 before digging
- Improperly marked utility lines
- Digging within the 18-inch tolerance zone
- Inadequate supervision of subcontractors
- Use of heavy machinery near buried utilities
Understanding the Risks and Injuries
Excavation injuries are typically high-impact events resulting from major utility failures:
- Gas Line Explosions: Striking a natural gas pipeline can cause explosions, fires, severe burns, and property damage due to high pressure and volatility.
- Electrocution: Cutting high-voltage lines can cause electrocution, often leading to neurological damage, amputation, or death.
- Toxic Exposure: Rupturing sewer or chemical lines can release hazardous materials, causing long-term respiratory illness, chemical burns, or chronic health issues.
Establishing Causation and Liability
To win a gas line explosion or utility strike injury case, you must prove more than a simple violation; you must prove that the violation directly caused the injury. This involves:
- Identifying the GUFPA Breach: The core finding is that the excavator or contractor failed a specific duty under O.C.G.A. § 25-9-1. This might include failing to notify 811, using mechanized equipment in the tolerance zone (O.C.G.A. § 25-9-8(b)), or failing to respect the marked locations.
- Linking Breach to Incident: Forensic evidence is used to show how the specific statutory breach led to the utility strike (e.g., “The excavator was using a backhoe 10 inches from the marked line, violating the tolerance zone rule, which caused the puncture and subsequent explosion.”)
- Damages: Because the injuries are often permanent or fatal, a call before you dig Georgia attorney seeks recovery for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium. In wrongful death cases, recovery is sought for the full value of the decedent’s life.
Contractor / Subcontractor Negligence Cases
Liability in underground utility damage claims is rarely limited to a single entity. Construction projects often involve layered contracts, raising questions of shared fault among general contractors, subcontractors, and the property owner.
- General Contractors may be liable for failing to properly supervise the project or for failing to ensure subcontractors received or followed the locate request information.
- Subcontractors are often directly responsible if their crew caused the physical strike through negligent operation of mechanized equipment.
- Utility Owners/Operators can also face liability if they fail to mark the location of their facilities accurately within the 48-hour timeframe, as required by law.
Identifying and pursuing claims against all responsible parties is a necessary step to secure full recovery for the injured party or the damaged property.
How We Investigate Gas Line Explosion and Utility Strike Cases
Many of these cases involve violations of Georgia’s Call Before You Dig law. We investigate by:
- Analyzing 811 Records: For example, obtaining and reviewing the original locate request ticket and verifying the facility owner’s response time to determine if a statutory violation occurred.
- Expert Coordination: Retaining specialists in excavation safety, utility mapping, and accident reconstruction to establish the precise cause of the utility strike.
- PSC Civil Penalty Defense: Assessing whether the client is also facing administrative fines from the Georgia Public Service Commission and accounting for that exposure during settlement negotiations.
- Managing Multi-Party Claims: Establishing the contractual relationships between all parties on the job site to determine the full extent of negligence and shared liability.
Injured in a Gas Line Explosion or Utility Strike? Let Us Help.
If you or a family member has been injured in a gas line explosion or utility strike accident, Griffin Law Firm, P.C. can help. Contact us for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we win.