open( FILE, "/PHL/data1/PHL/tmp/ECL_STAT.txt" ) 
    or die "Couldn't open ECL_STAT.txt: $!";
my $found = 0;

foreach $item(@timearray){
      seek( FILE, 0, 0 );
      $searchstring = "$NETID\|$month\/$date\/$year\|$item\|";
      
      while( <FILE> ) {
          if( /^$searchstring/ ) {
            push @ECL, $_;
            $found = 1;
            last;
          }
      }

      push @ECL, "||$item||" unless $found;
}

close( FILE ) or die "Couldn't close ECL_STAT.txt: $!";