Lack of information always has hampered efforts to prevent damage to buried utility infrastructure. Details about accidents that damage underground utilities often are contradictory, making it difficult to accumulate accurate accounts of events contributing to an accident. Were locates requested through the one-call system? If so, were they made and were markings accurate? If locates were ordered but not made or mismarked, who is responsible? Did construction crews dig on sites where utility locations had not been marked, or were they careless while making excavations on sites where locates were made and properly identified? Frequently, such information isn't made available. And too often, the goal of fact finding is to affix blame on someone else, especially if there has been significant damage and costly interruption of services and when personal injury or death has occurred - factors which can make litigation lengthy and expensive.
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