Jury blames contractor for line break Businesses could get millions in damages after massive water outage left 7 cities dry for days

Nearly a quarter-million people in seven cities went without water for days when a private contractor accidentally dug into a main in 2019. City workers managed to slow the crisis by plugging the hole in the pipe with a log, then encasing both the log and the pipe in concrete.

Now, a jury says the contractor that accidentally dug into the Fort Lauderdale water main is responsible — and could be liable for tens of millions in damages.

The jury’s verdict came Monday evening after a weeklong trial during which jurors learned how workers for Florida Communications Concepts, apparently believing they had encountered a large rock, drilled a 6-inch hole into a 42-inch main at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. The line supplies water to Fort Lauderdale’s main water plant, Fiveash.

That led to a disruption which originally was named as a defendant in the suit, settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

The jury, however, did not find FPL liable for the incident.

The heart of the contractor’s liability, plaintiff’s lawyer William Scherer said during closing arguments, was the failure to complete an “811 locater ticket” for the City of Fort Lauderdale. The documentation would have warned workers they were near a water main that should be avoided. Workers initially thought they had encountered a large natural obstruction, like a rock, according to closing arguments.

A separate trial will be held to determine damages, said Adam Moskowitz, co-lead counsel with Scherer and Cristina Pierson.