AT&T Denies Liability for Damage to Ala. City’s Sewer Line

An AT&T contractor, Star Construction, penetrated an 8-inch terracotta sewer line with a 4-inch casing holding AT&T’s underground telecom cables, causing the Wetumpka (Alabama) Water Works and Sewer Board to incur $125,000 in expenses, alleged the board’s March 5 complaint, removed Friday (docket 2:24-cv-00182) to U.S. District Court for Middle Alabama in Montgomery. The board “continues to incur expenses” associated with the weekly flushing of the line, and “additional significant expenses will be incurred in the ultimate resolution of this situation,” said the complaint. The “most promising resolution” would be for the board to abandon the sewer line and let AT&T’s cables remain where they are, but “significant expense” will be required to install a new sewer line to “bypass the troubled area,” it said. It’s the board’s position that it didn’t cause the problem, and that AT&T and its contractor should be required to reimburse the board for the expenses incurred in resolving the issue, said the complaint. AT&T denies liability “for the acts or omissions of an independent contractor,” said AT&T’s answer. AT&T alleges that the board "bears the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt before any award of damages can be made," it said.