Attorney general wants maximum $11.5M fine for 911 outage

SEATTLE – Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson says he wants CenturyLink to pay the maximum fine of $11.5 million for an outage that left the state without 911 service for six hours.

The April 2014 outage was caused by a coding error. The software’s back-up measure to reroute calls also failed, and officials say Louisiana-based CenturyLink was slow to recognize the problem, which came to light after 911 operators became concerned about an unusually low number of calls.

More than 5,600 emergency calls failed during outage, including calls from domestic violence victims and heart attack patients. A mother in Everett armed herself with a kitchen knife after making 37 unsuccessful 911 calls to report an intruder.

Under a proposed settlement, CenturyLink would pay $2.9 million. Ferguson is asking the Utilities and Transportation Commission to reject that deal at a hearing next week as too lenient.

CenturyLink did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.