SALISBURY, N.C. – The Wallace and Graham law firm in Salisbury, N.C. has announced a lawsuit against PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. in the wake of the power outages that crippled Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands on North Carolina’s Outer Banks on July 27.
The power outage was caused when PCL reportedly drove a steel casing through underground transmission cables as part of a project to replace the Bonner Bridge. As a result, thousands of community members in the Hatteras and Ocracoke areas have lost power and even more residents and tourists have had to evacuate.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf individuals and businesses who have been affected since the outage happened during peak tourist season. Plaintiffs include Briggs McEwan, who claims to have lost thousands of dollars from his local pizza and home rental business in Rodanthe, and Tami Lynette Gray, who says her charter boating business in Frisco has suffered significant losses.
PCL Civil Constructors lists a principal office in Raleigh on its website. It is currently working to replace the nearly three mile-long Herbert C. Bonner Bridge across Oregon Inlet from Bodie Island to Hatteras Island. The project is estimated to cost $250 million or more.
The lawsuit claims that PCL cut the power lines in the process of trying to complete the project. The affected power transmission cables go near and under the south side of the bridge, and the underground lines carry electricity to the island coastal communities from mainland Dare County.
Wallace and Graham filed the lawsuit in Dare County Superior Court. They are being assisted by Dennis Rose and Peebles Harrison of the law firm Rose Harrison & Gilreath and Cheryl Perkins and Jim Gilreath of law firms in South Carolina.
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