Verizon: Line clearly marked; JULIE, state agency to investigate further

OREGON – The fiber optic line cut 2 weeks ago, playing havoc with a variety of communications-related services, was “clearly marked,” Verizon said Friday in an e-mail announcing that its part of the investigation is over.

Verizon “followed appropriate procedures” in marking the line, which Northwest Illinois Construction Co. of Rock Falls cut Nov. 3 while working east of Oregon, spokeswoman Christy Reap wrote.

The damage, which took more than 8 hours to fix, disrupted phone, Internet, ATM, 911, credit card and other services for thousands of people in Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, Bureau, Carroll and Stephenson counties.

Verizon has filed an incident report with Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators, or JULIE, which will conduct an investigation and report its findings to the Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC will determine what, if any, fine will be issued, Reap said.

As is Verizon’s normal operating procedure, it will not divulge what it cost to repair the line or what compensation it will seek as a result of the damage, nor will it name “any party from whom we’ll be seeking compensation,” Reap’s e-mail said.

John Wegmeyer, the project implementation engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation District 2, said Northwest Illinois Construction was contracted this spring to do some resurfacing work on state Route 64, about 2 miles east of Oregon.

Before a project contractor begins work, it must contact JULIE about any live utility lines that might be present at the construction site.

Northwest’s president Bob Arnold has said Verizon told IDOT, which had an engineer on site, that the line had been relocated, which is what IDOT told his workers.

Even if the engineer told the company that the line was relocated, contractors must rely only on JULIE findings, Wegmeyer said.

Arnold declined to make any further comments Friday night, on the advice of his attorney.