Features

The One-Call and excavation damage provisions included in the new pipeline safety bill passed by Congress in December will trigger a number of state and federal responses in 2012. However, a rule allowing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to impose civil penalties on excavators -- ordered by the 2006 pipeline safety bill but never finalized -- would be even more significant. A proposed rule moving that requirement forward is expected this year, finally, perhaps as early as this winter.

With increasingly tight municipal budgets being maximized, social benefits are receiving greater and serious consideration. Pipe bursting is performed increasingly more as understanding of its social benefits become more prevalent.

Home warranty or home service plans are widely available today to help pay for repair or replacement costs when appliances and system components such as air conditioning and heating systems break down.

Over the last week, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to some of Lester Luttrell’s close friends, family -- even a competitor or two. I received an ear-full of stories. Most of them were hilarious, some of them were serious, but all of them ended with something like: “that Lester, he was one hell of a man.”