Complaint filed with GA PSC on Oct 05, 2016 at psc.state.ga.us/Default.aspx My complaint to the Georgia Public Service Commission is related to Atlanta Gas Light's on-going program replacing 750 miles of the natural gas supply lines in my neighborhood and other areas within Georgia. AGL has twice committed in writing that they will return the areas disturbed in the individual residential yards to pre-construction conditions, but their contractor and the on-site AGL representative have repeatedly failed to competently restore my lawn and those of many of my neighbors. In fact, the on-site supervisor of the contractor has laughed at my attempts to get them to respect the property of AGL customers and competently implement the restoration process. The on-site AGL representative has expressed his support of the contractor when presented legitimate customer concerns of negligence.
Timeline:
April 12, 2016 We received a letter from Atlanta Gas Light (AGL )to affected residents, which announced the upcoming natural gas pipeline replacement program. The text included the following: "Clean up of the job site will be completed as the project progresses. Affected areas will be restored to their pre-construction condition, with a final cleanup occurring at project completion."
May 2016 In order to complete conversion of my front yard from fescue grass to El Toro zoysia sod, I sprayed to kill the remaining area containing fescue. After the vegetation was dead, this area was deep tilled and the surface was finely graded with a shovel and rake. It remained bare in anticipation of the gas pipeline replacement. June 9, 2016 We received a door hanger notice from AGL, which announced the pipeline replacement work on our street was to commence June 9, 2016 with completion estimated to take eight weeks. This announcement included the contractor name, contact name and phone number (Gunter Construction Co., Inc.; Morris Reece; 678-898-9106). The notice text included this assurance: "Any area of your property impacted by the pipeline work will be restored to its pre-construction condition by the contractor."
June/July 2016 Gunter Construction crews worked to install the new main gas supply line in our neighborhood. They left two rows of flags in our yard, indicating the location of the old and the new supply mains. They also left an approximately one foot square dried out piece of our established zoysia sod on top of an area dug up and refilled to above the grade of the surrounding grass. The dirt in the refilled area was not only above grade, it had chunks of dry clay and air pockets unsuitable for sustaining sod, much less sod that had been left to dry out in the summer sun without any water. Unfortunately, I did not discover what had been done until after that patch of zoysia looked like an unwelcome brown postage stamp in a sea of green.
August 2016 With the estimated eight week construction period passed, I called Morris Reece at Gunter Construction and explained my lawn restoration progress had been put on hold to accommodate the gas pipeline replacement and minimize sod disturbance. Mr. Reece told me the crews would be finishing the individual service connections to each house within three weeks. So, I waited and left the area as bare dirt. September 2016 With the season for growing zoysia in 2016 approaching an end, and no pipeline crews in sight, the area of my yard in which AGL subsequently dug three large holes was tilled, carefully hand graded, covered in El Toro zoysia sod, and rolled with a weighted drum to ensure good sod to soil contact the first weekend of September 2016. The topsoil was a sandy loam suitable for leveling and growth of sod. I fought the exceptional heat and drought conditions by watering multiple times daily. This time-consuming and expensive watering regime was finally resulting in established sod, and a reduced watering schedule, when the AGL contractor got to my yard on Tuesday September 27, 2016. So the pre-construction conditions were sandy loam topsoil (top one foot depth), precise grade preparation, new established El Toro zoysia sod. The AGL contractor, Gunter Construction, left my yard with notable high and low variations in the grade; the topsoil was replaced with dry chunks of red clay unsuitable for laying sod (air pockets, poor root contact, compacted structure); my sod was incompetently relaid over the dry dirt - including not rolling for soil contact; portions of my sod had disappeared in the process; sod surrounding the dig area had been damaged from the contractor activities; and two spots of healthy grass out of the work area turned brown as if burned.
On Monday, September 26, I met with the on-site Gunter Construction supervisor, Marvin McDaniel (678-300-3702), and a crew chief, Brian. This meeting prior to their working in my yard was to advise them of the pre-construction conditions and my concerns about their lack of competent restoration practices evident in many of my neighbor's yards. When I suggested they should be watering the grass they dig up so it does not dry out while sitting in the hot sun (often root side up,) Mr. McDaniel heartily scoffed and laughed, while telling me they have no concerns about the property of AGL customers. In sum, his flippant attitude told me his focus is on installing the new gas line and the surface conditions left on AGL customer property will only be given lip service. To him the written AGL commitment to return the disturbed areas to pre-construction conditions is a big joke. Brian's crew started work in my yard on Tuesday September 27; were away to a class on Wednesday; and returned to complete the three large hole digging process on 9/29. This crew did their best to restore my lawn, but they failed miserably because they are not informed and skilled in landscape installation. I do not fault the pipeline workers for their lack of knowledge. Rather, I fault the contractor and AGL for failing to ensure the restoration process is performed by professionals with landscaping expertise.
Somehow during the process, the crew ran short of dirt (not topsoil) to back-fill the holes, and the amount of original sod left was not enough to cover significant areas of the holes dug. I do fault the workers, the contractor, and AGL for their practice of leaving many cigarette butts and miscellaneous debris along their trail. During the afternoon of Tuesday September 27, my restoration concerns were discussed at length with AGL representative Art Ames (678-878-6684) and Gunter Construction supervisor Marvin McDaniel while inspecting my yard. As for the dried out and missing sod, and the soil texture, grading, and moisture concerns, Mr. McDaniel asked me to "let them finish" - as in the entire neighborhood project, before judging what they were going to do. I informed them that zoysia is a warm season grass with very little season left to get established and asked when they would "finish". Mr. McDaniel then stated he did not know the answer. I told Ames and McDaniel that not only would sometime during winter not work, but also that they had no right to leave me with a dry unrestored yard with bare dirt while waiting for them to fulfill their obligation. Mr. Ames asked how long zoysia would actively grow and I guessed about mid to late October. Mr. Ames stated that meant the work should be done by the first week of October. They did not specifically commit to any timeline. I made sure Mr. McDaniel wrote down that my sod is El Toro variety zoysia to ensure a match.
Later that day I spoke to Alicia at the AGL project headquarters (404-584-3142). I informed her of my concerns with the negligence and attitude of the contractor. She assured me the message would be passed on to upper level management. We had no further communication until the afternoon of Tuesday October 4, when a crew led by Kenny Davis knocked on my door and asked to use my water and hose. They had been instructed by McDaniel to place pieces of dried and brown sod in the bare areas, and to ask to use water for which I am billed. I refused to let them run my water bill any higher. During the construction the week prior, I had offered to water to keep the sod alive since they were not prepared to do so. Mr. Davis and I discussed the site conditions and the near-to completely dead condition of the sod he had just brought. He agreed the restoration had been poorly done and said he would not have left it that way. He further expressed being chastised by his manager for taking the time to try to restore sites properly - because it cut into measurable production of pipeline replacement.
Surprise, surprise - the prevalent attitude of disregard for AGL customer property by Gunter management was revealed again. Immediately following the delivery of the new brown sod, I invited my neighbors over to witness the progress. They agreed the conditions left by AGL and Gunter are deplorable. They also spontaneously opined that the sod just delivered does not match the existing El Toro zoysia. It surely looks different, and I sure do not have any faith in Marvin McDaniel or Gunter Construction acting in good conscience to ensure a sod cultivar is matched. The cavalier and flippant disrespectful treatment by AGL and Gunter Construction has caused me a great deal of wasted time, angst, agitation, anger, high blood pressure, and disgust.
I have tried to proactively communicate and get them focused on doing right by myself and all of the other neighbors impacted by this pipeline replacement project. They obviously are aware that they are Goliath and we individual customers are inconsequential. They know lawyers will not be interested in pursuing individual cases because the monetary damage amounts are not substantial enough. This leaves me pleading for Public Service Commission conflict resolution; creating a social media firestorm of crowd-sourced complaints; finding a law firm willing to take on a class action lawsuit; contacting politicians and members of the news media interested in consumer affairs; and/or taking appropriate parties to small claims court. Many of our neighbors were lucky and did not suffer significant damages. Others have taken it upon themselves to restore their own yards. Quite a few have varying degrees of damages left evident to the casual observer.
Time will tell how many customers are willing to band together to fight for justice as the 750 miles of gas pipeline replacement process wreaks havoc across AGL customer yards. Rest assured, I am a motivated and resourceful adversary seeking redress of grievances. This adversarial role was not my choice; it has been forced by the willful and callous negligence of AGL and their contractor. At a minimum, the PSC should force AGL to ensure restoration of dig sites is performed by skilled landscapers in a timely manner, not by pipeline mechanics with conflicting priorities. AGL and their contractors should also be schooled to prevent serial littering practices. I request PSC give timely consideration to this complaint, promptly communicate your findings to me, and have a member of the commission contact me ASAP via telephone.
Atlanta Gas Light Reviews
Complaint filed with GA PSC on Oct 05, 2016 at psc.state.ga.us/Default.aspx My complaint to the Georgia Public Service Commission is related to Atlanta Gas Light's on-going program replacing 750 miles of the natural gas supply lines in my neighborhood and other areas within Georgia. AGL has twice committed in writing that they will return the areas disturbed in the individual residential yards to pre-construction conditions, but their contractor and the on-site AGL representative have repeatedly failed to competently restore my lawn and those of many of my neighbors. In fact, the on-site supervisor of the contractor has laughed at my attempts to get them to respect the property of AGL customers and competently implement the restoration process. The on-site AGL representative has expressed his support of the contractor when presented legitimate customer concerns of negligence.
Timeline:
April 12, 2016 We received a letter from Atlanta Gas Light (AGL )to affected residents, which announced the upcoming natural gas pipeline replacement program. The text included the following: "Clean up of the job site will be completed as the project progresses. Affected areas will be restored to their pre-construction condition, with a final cleanup occurring at project completion."
May 2016 In order to complete conversion of my front yard from fescue grass to El Toro zoysia sod, I sprayed to kill the remaining area containing fescue. After the vegetation was dead, this area was deep tilled and the surface was finely graded with a shovel and rake. It remained bare in anticipation of the gas pipeline replacement. June 9, 2016 We received a door hanger notice from AGL, which announced the pipeline replacement work on our street was to commence June 9, 2016 with completion estimated to take eight weeks. This announcement included the contractor name, contact name and phone number (Gunter Construction Co., Inc.; Morris Reece; 678-898-9106). The notice text included this assurance: "Any area of your property impacted by the pipeline work will be restored to its pre-construction condition by the contractor."
June/July 2016 Gunter Construction crews worked to install the new main gas supply line in our neighborhood. They left two rows of flags in our yard, indicating the location of the old and the new supply mains. They also left an approximately one foot square dried out piece of our established zoysia sod on top of an area dug up and refilled to above the grade of the surrounding grass. The dirt in the refilled area was not only above grade, it had chunks of dry clay and air pockets unsuitable for sustaining sod, much less sod that had been left to dry out in the summer sun without any water. Unfortunately, I did not discover what had been done until after that patch of zoysia looked like an unwelcome brown postage stamp in a sea of green.
August 2016 With the estimated eight week construction period passed, I called Morris Reece at Gunter Construction and explained my lawn restoration progress had been put on hold to accommodate the gas pipeline replacement and minimize sod disturbance. Mr. Reece told me the crews would be finishing the individual service connections to each house within three weeks. So, I waited and left the area as bare dirt. September 2016 With the season for growing zoysia in 2016 approaching an end, and no pipeline crews in sight, the area of my yard in which AGL subsequently dug three large holes was tilled, carefully hand graded, covered in El Toro zoysia sod, and rolled with a weighted drum to ensure good sod to soil contact the first weekend of September 2016. The topsoil was a sandy loam suitable for leveling and growth of sod. I fought the exceptional heat and drought conditions by watering multiple times daily. This time-consuming and expensive watering regime was finally resulting in established sod, and a reduced watering schedule, when the AGL contractor got to my yard on Tuesday September 27, 2016. So the pre-construction conditions were sandy loam topsoil (top one foot depth), precise grade preparation, new established El Toro zoysia sod. The AGL contractor, Gunter Construction, left my yard with notable high and low variations in the grade; the topsoil was replaced with dry chunks of red clay unsuitable for laying sod (air pockets, poor root contact, compacted structure); my sod was incompetently relaid over the dry dirt - including not rolling for soil contact; portions of my sod had disappeared in the process; sod surrounding the dig area had been damaged from the contractor activities; and two spots of healthy grass out of the work area turned brown as if burned.
On Monday, September 26, I met with the on-site Gunter Construction supervisor, Marvin McDaniel (678-300-3702), and a crew chief, Brian. This meeting prior to their working in my yard was to advise them of the pre-construction conditions and my concerns about their lack of competent restoration practices evident in many of my neighbor's yards. When I suggested they should be watering the grass they dig up so it does not dry out while sitting in the hot sun (often root side up,) Mr. McDaniel heartily scoffed and laughed, while telling me they have no concerns about the property of AGL customers. In sum, his flippant attitude told me his focus is on installing the new gas line and the surface conditions left on AGL customer property will only be given lip service. To him the written AGL commitment to return the disturbed areas to pre-construction conditions is a big joke. Brian's crew started work in my yard on Tuesday September 27; were away to a class on Wednesday; and returned to complete the three large hole digging process on 9/29. This crew did their best to restore my lawn, but they failed miserably because they are not informed and skilled in landscape installation. I do not fault the pipeline workers for their lack of knowledge. Rather, I fault the contractor and AGL for failing to ensure the restoration process is performed by professionals with landscaping expertise.
Somehow during the process, the crew ran short of dirt (not topsoil) to back-fill the holes, and the amount of original sod left was not enough to cover significant areas of the holes dug. I do fault the workers, the contractor, and AGL for their practice of leaving many cigarette butts and miscellaneous debris along their trail. During the afternoon of Tuesday September 27, my restoration concerns were discussed at length with AGL representative Art Ames (678-878-6684) and Gunter Construction supervisor Marvin McDaniel while inspecting my yard. As for the dried out and missing sod, and the soil texture, grading, and moisture concerns, Mr. McDaniel asked me to "let them finish" - as in the entire neighborhood project, before judging what they were going to do. I informed them that zoysia is a warm season grass with very little season left to get established and asked when they would "finish". Mr. McDaniel then stated he did not know the answer. I told Ames and McDaniel that not only would sometime during winter not work, but also that they had no right to leave me with a dry unrestored yard with bare dirt while waiting for them to fulfill their obligation. Mr. Ames asked how long zoysia would actively grow and I guessed about mid to late October. Mr. Ames stated that meant the work should be done by the first week of October. They did not specifically commit to any timeline. I made sure Mr. McDaniel wrote down that my sod is El Toro variety zoysia to ensure a match.
Later that day I spoke to Alicia at the AGL project headquarters (404-584-3142). I informed her of my concerns with the negligence and attitude of the contractor. She assured me the message would be passed on to upper level management. We had no further communication until the afternoon of Tuesday October 4, when a crew led by Kenny Davis knocked on my door and asked to use my water and hose. They had been instructed by McDaniel to place pieces of dried and brown sod in the bare areas, and to ask to use water for which I am billed. I refused to let them run my water bill any higher. During the construction the week prior, I had offered to water to keep the sod alive since they were not prepared to do so. Mr. Davis and I discussed the site conditions and the near-to completely dead condition of the sod he had just brought. He agreed the restoration had been poorly done and said he would not have left it that way. He further expressed being chastised by his manager for taking the time to try to restore sites properly - because it cut into measurable production of pipeline replacement.
Surprise, surprise - the prevalent attitude of disregard for AGL customer property by Gunter management was revealed again. Immediately following the delivery of the new brown sod, I invited my neighbors over to witness the progress. They agreed the conditions left by AGL and Gunter are deplorable. They also spontaneously opined that the sod just delivered does not match the existing El Toro zoysia. It surely looks different, and I sure do not have any faith in Marvin McDaniel or Gunter Construction acting in good conscience to ensure a sod cultivar is matched. The cavalier and flippant disrespectful treatment by AGL and Gunter Construction has caused me a great deal of wasted time, angst, agitation, anger, high blood pressure, and disgust.
I have tried to proactively communicate and get them focused on doing right by myself and all of the other neighbors impacted by this pipeline replacement project. They obviously are aware that they are Goliath and we individual customers are inconsequential. They know lawyers will not be interested in pursuing individual cases because the monetary damage amounts are not substantial enough. This leaves me pleading for Public Service Commission conflict resolution; creating a social media firestorm of crowd-sourced complaints; finding a law firm willing to take on a class action lawsuit; contacting politicians and members of the news media interested in consumer affairs; and/or taking appropriate parties to small claims court. Many of our neighbors were lucky and did not suffer significant damages. Others have taken it upon themselves to restore their own yards. Quite a few have varying degrees of damages left evident to the casual observer.
Time will tell how many customers are willing to band together to fight for justice as the 750 miles of gas pipeline replacement process wreaks havoc across AGL customer yards. Rest assured, I am a motivated and resourceful adversary seeking redress of grievances. This adversarial role was not my choice; it has been forced by the willful and callous negligence of AGL and their contractor. At a minimum, the PSC should force AGL to ensure restoration of dig sites is performed by skilled landscapers in a timely manner, not by pipeline mechanics with conflicting priorities. AGL and their contractors should also be schooled to prevent serial littering practices. I request PSC give timely consideration to this complaint, promptly communicate your findings to me, and have a member of the commission contact me ASAP via telephone.