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THE ANDERS' RESIDENCE and driveway near Airport Road is flooded after workers installing a fence at the airport hit a water main. Several homes were in the path of the flood water and the road was closed to traffic for several hours while crews cleaned up the mud and debris. Democrat photo by Shelly Thorene
A waterline beside the Placerville Airport was struck Friday morning, causing water to pour out and affect homes downhill.
A fencing contractor hit an 8-inch PVC waterline, said El Dorado Irrigation District Communications and Community Relations Director Mary Lynn Carlton. Water was restored and “the repair of the line itself went pretty fast,” Carlton said. The rushing water “left a lot of mud debris on the road” and crews were dispatched to clean the road.
On scene, light-brown mud covered the road up to the airport, with American Fence Co. employees blocking the already-closed road with a truck while a Bobcat tractor cleared the mud away. By noon, only a trickle of water remained.
“We will also need to repair some of the earthen area directly below the break and that will be completed in the next couple of days,” Carlton said, noting only the airport’s water was affected by the break. “However, there was some flooding of driveways for five to six houses and one house may have had some water intrusion. We are working with the homeowners to assist them in the cleanup process.”
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Jim RiordanFebruary 26, 2013 - 2:26 pm
This mess must be paid for by the airport, EID, the fence company, the County engineering dept., or all of the above. It was definately NOT the fault of the Anders Family or the homeowners of the other affected homes. Either the county and EID maps given to the fence company were incorrect, or the fence company drilled in the wrong spot. Plus there were allegedly TWO shut off valves within feet of either side of the breach . . . why did SOMEONE miss that? All they had to do was shut the damn thing off. I would like to see transparent map overlays in the same "scale" from all parties such that they could be overlayed one on top of the other to find the responsible party who dispensed or depended on bad coordinates. This is a very simple issue to figure out and if all the involved parties keep waffling about it, I would suggest a lawsuit by all parties suffering damages against all involved parties . . .There is no magic here. Either the fence company drilled in the wrong spot and had no information as to where the shutoff valves were, OR the fence company was drilling exactly where they were told to, at the depth they were told to and EID or the County gave them bad info and sent no one to man the shutoff valves in case of just such an emergency. A complete idiot should have recognized that a watermain which emits the volume of that pipe certainly required oversight. Either way, someone better get their butts in gear to help those families repair their properties. NOW! It is no mystery that water runs downhill, so how could a fence post driller not be told where the shutoff valves were BEFORE the damn job was even started? And why was there no capable EID party present to shut off the water immediately? Answers please!
Phil VeerkampFebruary 26, 2013 - 3:13 pm
Jim, first things first. Had a "USA" been performed? (underground service alert) If a USA had not been performed then the entire liability falls on the drilling party.
DB SmithFebruary 26, 2013 - 3:17 pm
Basic Rule #1 for anybody that is going to dig and even thinks for a millisecond that there could be a buried utility nearby...call USA (Underground Service Alert) 18002272600.
DB SmithFebruary 26, 2013 - 3:22 pm
Right on Phil. Sounds like you've been there before. It's a fantastic service and has saved my butt a few times.
Phil VeerkampFebruary 26, 2013 - 3:39 pm
Right, DB. EID has some good line locaters, but so much of the system was built without tracer wire and the GIS system is not perfect for many reasons.
DB SmithFebruary 26, 2013 - 3:47 pm
Yes Phil...I dealt with a lot of late underground 40's-50's stuff that was challenging but so much fun locating. Tracer wire makes it so easy and eliminates??? Have fun at the 50 Grand.