The only thing that a local ground rod at a pole is going to do is to disspate lightning currents including low level stuff such as Saint Elmo's Fire. You still need an equipment grounding conductor that is separate from the grounded circuit conductor, particularly on 120 volts or 480 volts 2-wire end grounded.

I have also vacuumed out enough 480 volt streetlighting handholes to know that mice like to chew on the wire. Mouse saliva is semiconductive enough that they probably do not wait for the central controller to turn off the power during the daytime.

Mike is correct about the uselessness of earth rods for street light poles in cases where the earth has layers of uniform resistance.But if the ground has an inner layer of lower resistance reachable by the earth rod, then the earth rod can make the installation safe in case of earth fault and in such cases Mike is wrong!

My heart breaks for these people who lose their great pets. From a pet owner's stance, all they can really do for PPE is to make sure they walk their pet on a NON-CONDUCTIVE leash, and be a pit bull to the utilities who go along to get along, rather than follow up on doing the right thing.

Every install we do, needs to have the potential to last 50 years. Difference between a good job and a poor one is about 15 seconds, unintendeded consequences can haunt for a life time for taking a short cut!

All I can hope for is that the utility doesn't have a knee jerk reaction and say "Oh, we need more ground rods."or something eqaullt ignorant off of the lips of a press agent in a release. They are the last thing we need! We need a low resistance path from the fault to the source, and an OCPD that works!

This is a terrible accident that does not need to happen. However, this is most likely not "stray voltage", it is a fault and or faulty (mis)wiring. Check the Wi PSC documents for the definition of "stray voltage". When poles are not properly grounded back to the source, and there is a ground fault, the voltage from pole ground to earth ground increases. There now is a potential from earth (sidewalk) to the pole, when someone makes contact between the earth and the pole there can be enough current flowing to cause death.

I have heard through the Grape vine many Grounding devices and Wire ect on poles everywhere and also at most Transfer stations ect. Have been stold by copper thieves. Word to the wise Be carefull because it is highly possable that it is not grounded. I have noticed also in New Comercial buldings. No continuios grounding systems Well they dont have to be. Just makes me feel safer when I see it.. Be Blessed and Safe

And no one knows why? Give me a break. There is always an answer but probably not one from a public utilty. They do no wrong.

Those dirtbags from the dot replaced the pole right away fixed the ground to the pole and said there is nothing wrong with this pole I dont know how your dog died. They should all be arrested in my opinion.

Replacing the pole reeks of cover up. Why not find out what caused the problem and fix it and maybe ...learn from it. Possibly preventing another occurance...

When is a large organization that is responsible for this type of electrical hazard going to actually take responsibility and perform?

That is very very sad. The POCO needs to det to the bottom of this, and CORRECT IT!!! Tony

Maybe there needs to be a periodic inspection of all ground connections. I have noticed that many of the ground wire to ground pole connections in my home town are loose enough that there is almost no (and in some cases, none) connection between the ground pole and the ground wire. Everything works properly, unless there is a fault to earth ground, in which case the breaker which should trip doesn't, and the frame of an appliance could be electrically hot. Or the fault current could find somewhere else to go. I worked one fire case where I suspect the cause of the fire was a loose connection between the ground pole and the ground wire. The fault current went through some aluminum foil coated insulation to a gas pipe, causing some dust to ignite when the aluminum foil flashed. I walked across the street and found the same condition on the next house. When these conditions are noticed, should they be reported? If so, to whom? Also, I was visiting with the manager of a local restaurant and found the same condition existing. Since the manager was a friend of mine, I tightened the fixture. I haven't done a real survey to determine the extent of the problem. Has anyone?

This is a hard sell. How are you going to convince people that this check and adjustment needs to be done. Maybe the building inspectors should be required to do these inspections, and require repairs be made when necessary.

Maybe the utilities need to do the same thing. In the case of the dog that was electrocuted, I really suspect deferred preventitive maintenance was the problem. Since systems will work with a broken or loose ground, there is no need to fix the problem, because there are no obvious effects. That is, until someone or some animal gets hurt.

Maybe the next issue of the NEC could address this issue.

So what viable measures should be taken to prevent recurrence?

When I inspect a job, the most important piece of the inspection is grounding and grounding connections. Although I'm sure the pet owner is very upset, at least a human wasn't killed here.

I believe this to be a bonding problem and not a grounding problem. I think that if there had been a GFI type breaker or a purposeful continuous low impedance path back to the source the breaker should have opened and cleared the fault, The best ground rod in the world would probably have still allowed enough current to flow through the animal to cause its death. Very sad indeed. Someone should be held accountable.

The only long-term solution is an industry shift from “Inspect & Protect” to “Detect, Identify & Resolve.”

The technology to detect and prevent many of these potentially dangerous electrical conditions is available NOW! So why would we not be using it to save lives or prevent disabling injuries NOW? Good question!

The biggest obstacle has been getting manufacturers to understand the significance of this technology and to embrace its potential benefit.

Thanks for posting and to remind us that we must run a ground wire from our power source to bond at the pole. We cannot cannot depend on a local ground to have zero impedance to our power source ground

It is obvious from the comments that our community is just as much in the dark as the D.O.T. They changed the pole? GFI GFI GFI!!! Bond Bond Bond!!! Stop talking about grounding. What could be more grounded that a light pole in concrete. Learn and teach about step potential. It is not that mysterious. Jack

It's sad that this dog was killed. Here in Los Angeles, the policy is to tie the Neutral (white wire) from the Traffic Pole Luminar to the bonding strap that bonds all the metal conduits in the PB-3 pull box. The city now uses a multi wire circuit system, so the grounded conductor is always hot or carrying some current on it. With the city doing this wiring method at every Traffic Signal pole they are establishing another Grounding Electrode System, so that means those metal conduits that are attached to the metal bonding strap are hot everytime the lighting circuit is engerize. The city is also going to electronic ballast now when replacing the bad ballast. Also when the City adds a lighted Bus Stop, the circuit the City uses is the nearest light circuit. I have meetings and phone conversations about this electrical Hazard but nothing has happen yet. I guess when someone or something gets injured or killed then this change will happen. It's just like the NEC, as I been told at several times in IAEI meetings, "it takes a death or series property damage before we get a code change". I also like to remind everyone who reading this comment, I've been told several times that City and State don't have to go by the NEC because they are Exempt. Tell that to this lady or anyone else who lost a pet or someone close to them. Some times it is very hard to do our jobs as Inspectors when you know this is a complete code violation and an Elecrical Hazard.

It's sad that this dog was killed. Here in Los Angeles, the policy is to tie the Neutral (white wire) from the Traffic Pole Luminar to the bonding strap that bonds all the metal conduits in the PB-3 pull box. The city now uses a multi wire circuit system, so the grounded conductor is always hot or carrying some current on it. With the city doing this wiring method at every Traffic Signal pole they are establishing another Grounding Electrode System, so that means those metal conduits that are attached to the metal bonding strap are hot everytime the lighting circuit is engerize. The city is also going to electronic ballast now when replacing the bad ballast. Also when the City adds a lighted Bus Stop, the circuit the City uses is the nearest light circuit. I have meetings and phone conversations about this electrical Hazard but nothing has happen yet. I guess when someone or something gets injured or killed then this change will happen. It's just like the NEC, as I been told at several times in IAEI meetings, "it takes a death or series property damage before we get a code change". I also like to remind everyone who reading this comment, I've been told several times that City and State don't have to go by the NEC because they are Exempt. Tell that to this lady or anyone else who lost a pet or someone close to them. Some times it is very hard to do our jobs as Inspectors when you know this is a complete code violation and an Elecrical Hazard.

This doesn't sound like stray voltage to me. I live in farm country and I deal with stray voltage. This sounds like an energized light pole. I have worked on many outdoor lighting systems where a ground rod is used as a EGC at each pole. I've found poles energized to 277 volts and the impedance of the earth was high enough to keep the over current device from tripping. So the pole sits there hot. Don't touch the poles in the parking lot or park up against them with your car.

Incidences of animals and persons being shocked and also electrocuted is more widespread than most realize.

THE FIRST PART. Light poles on the street are no different than those in a shopping center parking lot or on private property except that the ones on the streets have more animal and human contact while strolling, walking a dog or just leaning on the pole waiting on the bus. All lightpoles, fixtures, wiring, feeder circuits and other electrical systems are required by the NEC to be grounded and/or bonded to provide a low impedance ground path back to the source. This low impedance path is in most cases the equipment grounding conductor that should be run in the conduit or cable with the branch circuit or feeder to the equipment or pole in this case. It could be the conduit if metal and properly installed and bonded at termination points. This method unfortunately is used by some to save the cost of the copper equipment ground conductor. Although this is allowed by code, in my opinion it is not a long term reliable ground path since its integrity is dependant on the condition of every conduit joint, coupling and box termination in the run from the equipment back to the source. Additionally a supplemental grounding conductor and earth ground rod should be installed at every light pole to reduce the potential between the pole and the earth. The ground conductor connections to the pole should be made using compression connectors bolted to the pole with a bolt or welded stud. Th connection to the ground rod should be made by exothermic weld process. This is not required by the NEC, however if installed it would reduce the chances of a person or animal from receiving a fatal shock when they are come in contact with a light pole and the earth and becoming a parallel path that may have either leakage current or bleed current seeking or flowing to earth. The sources of the bleed current could be from nearby storm clouds. The leakage current would be present under the condition of having a defective lighting ballast and a compromised or non-existant equipment grounding path back to the source.

THE SECOND PART Lighting and other use poles along streets corners & traffic areas are subject to ocasional damage from vehicles, vandals and thieves steeling the copper wires. This presents addition hazards at these locations since a dangerous condition may exist for some time before being discovered and even longer before being corrected or replaced. Add one more hazard element to the mix in as much as many times the workers that are performing the repair or replacement may not necessarly be a qualified electrician. It may be a street or road department employee with limited knowledge of the hazards created by improper grounding.

THE SOLUTION The only solution is to increase the awareness of cities and counties street departments of the problem and the need for periodic comprehensive inspections and repair or up grade of the grounding associated with poles, manholes and other associated hazards in their areas of responsibility.

Additionally and hopefully they would recognize the need to budget for this and provide qualified persons to perform the inspections and repairs.

Huh,

I still know electricians that believe pounding in a ground rod is all you have to do for grounding. I see light poles all the time without a green wire back to the panel, just a driven ground rod. Ohm’s law will set you free.

I don't understand. One would think the local public heath officials would be involved.

Why does the woman have to pay for an autopsy?

I guess it would take a small pile of dead animals around a lightpole to get a reaction.

its a dog come on!!!!! good thing no person was hurt

My heart goes out to any person that has lost a loved one (human or animal) due to circumstances that should not occur. This is one more horrible example of electricity using "ground" (earth) for a return current path; a proper bonding conductor would have eliminated the lethal situation if it were properly installed back to the source. In this case it sounds as if the dog became a low impedance path and was "electrocuted" as a result.

The above condition is not "stray voltage", it is fault current and would be lethal to humans if they were at the same resistance to earth as the poor dog.

What does it cost to necropsy a dog in New York? I will contribute to the cost, if it will help the owner confirm the obvious. Perhaps there is a large animal vet clinic that would be willing to do the necropsy for a reasonable fee. The owner may also want to contact a New York Extension agent to inquire about having the necropsy conducted at the State Laboratory.

Chuck

Perhaps a better solution would be to employ the use of fiberglass poles. At least then if you leaned against the pole or "streamed" on it you would not be a conductive path.