STOCKTON, Utah — People in a small Tooele County town are upset because of a water line break Monday morning that damaged their properties.
There is now a dispute between Stockton's town government and the construction company regarding whose fault it is.
Julie West said she was in her kitchen when water started pouring into her backyard, soaking her air conditioner and flowing into the garage.
“I heard this 'boom' really loud, and I thought, ‘What in the heck?’” West said. “My poor dogs — they hightailed it for the house, and I turned around to run too.”
The issue started on North Johnson Street, causing water to flood onto a neighbor’s property before it broke through two retention walls and into West’s back yard.
“We wanted to put our home up for sale. How can we do it?” she said. “Nobody wants to take the blame for anything, and we’re stuck in the middle.”
West said she saw employees with Utah Underground talking to the mayor, blaming the city for the break because the pipe was unmarked.
Mayor Thomas Karjola told FOX 13 he believes the construction company should have waited for clarification before starting to dig.
“We’re the middle people here,” West said. “Somebody made a mistake, and somebody needs to make us whole… The way I’m looking at it, the construction company caused the problem. Their insurance should step up and pay for it.”
8/1 UPDATE: A representative with Utah Underground tells Fox 13 they followed all proper procedures, including contacting Blue Stakes of Utah before digging, and blames the mishap on the pipe not being marked.
