A woman who lives in suburban Morris was faced with a foul odor that lasted for months after a gas leak was repaired at Nicol Gas.
Kathleen King’s quaint estate, nestled in quiet hills and surrounded by wildlife, was hit by the pungent stench of sewage earlier this year, months after a gas leak was repaired late last year.
King said she was told a gas line on her property needed repairs, and Nicol Gas completed the necessary work last fall.
Things seemed to be going well for Ms. King until this spring, when a troubling incident related to a gas leak occurred on her property.
“The purified water would come up and it would just flow all over the driveway. There was so much water that it would flow in that direction as well,” King said.
King said Nicol Gas employees cracked the septic tank while replacing a gas line, and the purified water rose after the ground thawed.
“So when they came under the driveway with the machine, the machine hit a section of pipe that was here,” King said of broken plastic pieces near where the repairs were made. He said while pointing.
Mr. King sued Nicol for damages, but the utility claimed that Nicol “was not given an opportunity to inspect the work area to determine whether the damage was a direct result of the work.” Due to this, the company stated that it was “not responsible” for damages.
After months of back and forth and no progress, King posted a response for NBC 5 on the matter. We reached out to Nicole, and a few days later she changed her tune about the allegations. The utility company ultimately agreed to pay Mr. King $3,150 to repair the septic tank.
“It was chaos until NBC got involved. I mean, I don’t know what we would do without NBC. You guys made one phone call. The next day they called me. They’re sending me checks,” King said.
But what was behind Nicole’s sudden change of heart?
“We had not received any estimates for the work until NBC contacted us,” Nicol Gas said in a statement.
However, we discovered that an email King sent to Nichol in April included a quote for the job. King said she assumed she had received a quote because the utility company never contacted her about it.
“I did everything I was told, but it was like everything was denied me,” Dr. King said.
Mr. Nicol did not respond to our follow-up questions about what happened to that email.
After months of dealing with a sewage pond in her driveway, King is enjoying life at home again.
“We can sit here and enjoy the birds and look at nature. And my dog doesn’t have to walk through sepsis. My grandchildren don’t have to run into sepsis. All from Channel 5 News. Thank you,” King said.
If a utility company needs to make repairs to your property, consider the following tips.
Once the work is completed, have the workers document their work and any problems they encountered. If something goes wrong, insist that the worker submit a report to the utility company about what happened and follow up within 48 to 72 hours to confirm the report was submitted. Please. All communications must be in writing or via email. It’s important to keep a paper trail to track your schedule and appointments.
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