About a year ago, the Public Service Commission started hiring third party construction inspectors.
"There's a lot of infrastructure going in place in North Dakota," said PSC Chairman Julie Fedorchak. "And the public wants to be assured this is being done right and done well."
Fedorchak also said there were a growing number of complaints about reclamation.
So we started looking at the tools we had, as regulators," Fedorchak said. And she said hiring outside inspectors is the best tool at the Commission’s disposal.
"They (the inspectors) will go out on a project before there is any dirt moved, and make sure they're overseeing the initial digging, and the topsoil-subsoil segregation," Fedorchak said. "They will make sure contractors know how to do that, and they're comfortable that it's being done correctly."
After that, Fedorchak says the inspectors will make a number of site visits to make sure the project is following the PSC’s order.
"They will go out again, when the project is completed, and there is respreading of the dirt and reseeding," Fedorchak said. "The will make sure the contractors are doing that correctly."
Fedorcak said then one year after the project is completed, the inspectors will go out a final time, and look at how the regrowth is occurring. She said landowners want to be assured their land is returned to its original state after construction.