Sabri company fined $5,000 in rupture of gas line

A company owned by Lake Street-area developer Basim Sabri has been nicked for $5,000 by state pipeline officials for the rupture of an unmarked natural gas line last April.

The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety levied the civil penalty against Sabri Properties after the leak forced a shutoff of gas to his new 77-unit Karmel Village apartments at 2848 Pleasant Av. S.

Sabri hasn't yet paid the penalty, according to the state. He fought it in Hennepin County Conciliation Court, where a judgment was levied against him. The state's Department of Public Safety is in the process of turning the debt over to state revenue officials for collection, according to department spokeswoman Kristine Chapin.

State law requires excavators to call to have utility lines located and marked before digging begins. The state said that Sabri Properties failed to do so before excavating for fenceposts and trees.

"Obviously, we were at fault for not calling in," Sabri said Monday. He said that a utility representative was in the vicinity the day before the accident, and that his workers thought that he'd marked lines as requested.

The penalty levied represents five separate violations that were negotiated between the state and Sabri's attorney, after the state alleged that 19 holes were dug without permission, both before and after the rupture. Sabri also was required to reimburse CenterPoint Energy an undisclosed amount for the cost of repairs and the loss of about 40 minutes' worth of gas that escaped a 2-inch pipe during the rupture.

Sabri also ruptured a gas line in 2001 when he was digging with an excavating machine for his shopping strip in the 3000 block of 2nd Avenue S.

STEVE BRANDT