Summit faces $150K fine for damaged sewer lines
Summit Natural Gas of Maine is facing a potential $150,000 fine after state regulators discovered that it had damaged sewer lines in 25 places across four communities.
The Bangor Daily News reported that sewer lines in Augusta, Gardiner, Yarmouth and Cumberland were damaged by Summit when it was installing natural gas pipeline using it trenchless, horizontal drilling technology. The damage was discovered between early August and late September by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
The PUC said the most serious damage was done in Gardiner, where a plumber was trying to diagnose a home’s sewer blockage and unknowingly chipped away some of an inactive natural gas pipeline with a mechanical snake.
“Had the gas main been active and there had been more aggressive attempts to clear the sewer lateral, the results may have been disastrous,” the report said.
Those and other findings prompted PUC to recommend a $150,000 penalty and a series of corrective actions for Summit in its Oct. 10 report. The corrective actions include a call for Summit to expose all pipelines installed last summer to find any other issues and to launch a public awareness campaign informing stakeholders of dangers associated “with the cross boring of gas facilities through existing sewer facilities.”
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