Page 7 - Arkansas 811 Magazine 2022 Issue 3

the 4th Quartile for three characteristics, the 3rd Quartile for two characteristics, and the 2nd Quartile for three characteristics. No characteristics fell into the 1st Quartile.
The 2019 estimated total damage cost in Arkansas is approximately $92 million in annual and out-of-pocket cost to the system. In addition to this observable cost is an invisible cost originating from the following:
1) daily unneeded locate requests
2) daily locator wasted time due to poor instructions
3) an additional 7.5% in locator wasted time due to destroyed marks
4) daily contractor wasted time waiting for asset owner compliance with locate request or taking “defensive excavation” practices at additional cost and lost productivity in an attempt to avoid unlocated facilities
These costs amount to an additional $1.5 billion in waste, inefficiency, and excess cost that is embedded in the system and largely invisible. Regardless of where or from whom these costs originate, they migrate over a 3-5-year timeline toward the most professional contractors and locators, and by default to their utility customers who are primarily the highly regulated electric and gas utilities and ultimately their ratepayers.
Once known and visible, these costs can be eliminated
and mitigated. The seven recommendations proposed, will eliminate $1 billion or 66% of these costs over a 3-5-year timeline and while there are implementation expenditures associated with these recommendations, the gain achieved outweighs the cost by a factor of 76x over the 3-5-year implementation timeline. These savings represent both the waste embedded in the system and some modest reduction in damage frequency. Additional achieved improvements to public safety and estimated damage costs will be on top of these figures.
Ultimately, it is possible to drive out waste, inefficiency, and excess cost from the damage prevention and utility locate process while improving public safety and lowering the total cost to ratepayers, asset owners, and operators (utilities, department of transportation, municipalities).
Arkansas Recommendations
Recommendation Summary
Overall, Arkansas achieves less than adequate performance as measured by PHMSA, CGA’s DIRT Report, IPC, and stakeholders. There are weaknesses or gaps in the Arkansas dig law as well as the Arkansas processes and practices. Opportunities for further improvement include the following:
1. Mandatory Damage Reporting: Refine the dig law to require reporting of all damages (not necessarily investigation into all damages) to support more effective damage adjudication and enforcement.
2. Balanced Enforcement: Cause enforcement authority
to weigh the involvement of all primary participants in the damage and hold the asset owner, excavator, and locator responsible in the damage adjudication process in a fair and balanced fashion.
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2022, Issue 3
Arkansas 811 Magazine • 5