Texas Pipeline Awareness Alliance encourages homeowners to always call 811 before digging

Adam Singleton
·3 min read

April is National Safe Digging Month and it’s a great time to remind homeowners to always contact 811 either online or by phone before beginning any projects that require digging.

Digging without knowing the approximate location of underground utilities can result in serious injuries, inconvenient service disruptions and costly repairs when gas, electric, communications, water and sewer lines are damaged. Making a free request to 811 online or over the phone before digging will help homeowners maintain essential utility service for themselves and neighbors and keep communities safe, by reducing the likelihood of accidentally digging into buried utility lines.

As part of National Safe Digging Month, Texas Pipeline Awareness Alliance encourages homeowners to take the following steps when planning a digging project this spring:

  • Always call 811 a few days before digging, regardless of the depth or familiarity with the property.

  • Plan ahead. Call on Monday or Tuesday for work planned for an upcoming weekend, providing ample time for the approximate location of lines to be marked.

  • Confirm that all lines have been marked.

  • Consider moving the location of your project if it is near utility line markings.

  • If a contractor has been hired, confirm that the contractor has called 811. Don’t allow work to begin if the lines aren’t marked.

  • Visit www.pipeline-safety.org for complete info.

Everyone who calls 811 a few days before digging is connected to a local one call notification center that will take the caller’s information and communicate it to local utility companies. Professional locators will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of underground utility lines with spray paint, flags or both. Once a site has been accurately marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas. Pipeline companies carefully build and maintain their pipelines and monitor their operations around-the-clock. These companies patrol their lines by plane and on foot and regularly trim trees. Pipelines are mostly underground, buried in corridors known as pipeline right-of-ways. These right-of-ways are long wide stretches of mowed grass, cleared of trees. Because they are silent and invisible, they are marked with signs called pipeline markers. These signs are placed at regular intervals and mark the general, but not exact, location of a pipeline. These markers also identify the type of pipeline and contain emergency contact phone numbers. No excavation should ever take place on marked pipeline and remove shrubs or structures that are too close to the right-of-way and can impact public safety. Pipelines are safe and serious pipeline problems are rare, and in many cases, preventable. But if a problem does occur, it is important to know what to do and who to call. If you smell an unusual odor, hear a hissing sound or see bubbling earth or water or vegetation that’s dead or dying or if you see a colorful sheen on water you need to leave the area immediately and call 9-1-1. If possible, move upwind; if inside move outside. Do not turn on or off any electric appliances or devices and do not start an engine, car or truck and do not light a cigarette or cigar. If you think you have accidently hit a pipeline while digging, even if it appears not to be broken or leaking, you need to call the pipeline company so they can inspect and repair if necessary. For more information, visit www.Pipeline-Safety.org.

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