AG Reaches Settlement In Deadly Digging Case

(Des Moines, IA) — Iowa’s Attorney General has reached a settlement in lawsuits with a Marion County company in an “Iowa One Call” violation that resulted in death. The suit alleges M-C-S Communications failed on six occasions to call first when digging to install fiber optic cable in Pella in 2020. A company crew hit an electrical line with a jackhammer, resulting in the electrocution of two employees and the injury of a third in August of 2020. Other excavations damaged natural gas pipelines and a telecommunications line. M-C-S admitted to the violations and agreed to pay a 10-thousand dollar civil penalty in addition to injunctive relief prohibiting future violations.