Drilling company claims it wasn't informed of sewer drain

A drilling company that’s being sued by the City of Columbia Falls claims there’s a simple reason why it put a city water line through a Montana Department of Transportation storm drain — it didn’t know the storm drain was there.

In 2011, the city hired Badger Drilling Company to drill under U.S. Highway 2 near Super 1 Foods so a water line could be extended to the north side of the highway.

About four years later, in February 2015, it was discovered that the water line had been bored through a storm drain under the highway. The storm drain, in essence, failed and the highway developed a sinkhole that was big enough that one lane of the road was closed down while it was repaired.

According to the City of Columbia Falls initial complaint in Flathead County District Court earlier this fall, the City of Kalispell helped Columbia Falls determine the cause of the failure using a video camera that showed the boring for the water line created a hole in the storm sewer, the city claimed.

The city’s suit alleges that Badger owner and president, David Scott, was present at the time the video of the drain failure was taken.

According to the city’s complaint, city crews and crews from Badger then made a temporary fix of the sinkhole. The Montana Department of Transportation, in turn, then required that the water main be moved so it no longer went through the storm drain.

In its amended complaint filed in September, the city claims that Badger should have known the sewer line was there and should have taken the necessary precautions to avoid drilling through it. It also claims that Badger violated the state’s Dig Law, which is designed to protect against destruction of underground services and utilities.

But attorney Kristine Beal, in a letter to the Hungry Horse News, claims that Badger followed the correct procedures under Montana’s laws at the time when it dug the hole and that the state never told the company the storm drain was there to begin with.

The company provided the newspaper with a copy of what’s called a “call ticket” that shows which utilities it notified before it proceeded to drill the hole. The state Department of Transportation is clearly marked on the ticket.

“The state did not ever locate or mark the storm drain at issue even though it was given ample time to do so,” Beal claimed.

But the city claims the company should have known the drain was there, because there are manhole covers on the north side of the highway.

The city initially filed claims with Badger’s insurance company to get reimbursed for the cost of moving the water line so it would be under, not through, the storm drain.

The city and Badger’s insurance company went back and forth for about 18 months, without resolution.

In May of this year, the city paid contractor LHC of Kalispell more than $126,000 to re-bore the water main. In addition, the city paid about $48,000 in engineering fees and an additional $2,244 to the state for repairs to the highway.

But Beal claims the payment to the state was voluntary — the city was under no obligation to do so.

Badger’s insurance company refused to pay the claim, so the city brought suit, seeking monetary damages, plus 10 percent interest. The city is seeking a jury trial in the case.

Badger has sought dismissal of the case, claiming the state, not the city, suffered the damage. But in response, the city noted it was the one that ultimately paid for the fix and is entitled to damages as a common law claim against Badger.

As of press time, the court had not ruled on Beal’s motion to dismiss the case.