Published July 2007

Dial 811 Before Digging

(page 32)

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) “Know What’s Below — Call Before You Dig” campaign alerts professionals or homeowners to call 811 before beginning any excavation project.

Dial 811 Before Digging

The Associated General Contrac-tors of America (AGC) “Know What’s Below — Call Before You Dig” campaign alerts professionals or homeowners to call 811 before beginning any excavation project. The new FCC-designated number does not eliminate multiple “Call Before You Dig” numbers across the country, but works alongside them to avoid confusion.

Dialing 811 connects callers with local One Call Centers that notify the appropriate local utilities to mark the approximate location of underground lines for free. For more information about the 811 program and national awareness campaign, visit www.call811.com.

Unmarked Sewer Laterals Big Issue

The problem of unmarked sewer laterals was addressed at a meeting with representatives from the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Unmarked sewer laterals can be cut through by directional drilling crews installing natural gas lines (an event known as a cross-bore). Then, if a blockage occurs and a plumber works on the line using a cable or other tool, the gas line can be breached, filling the sewer with natural gas that migrates back to the house and causes an explosion.

Because these events can be catastrophic, NUCA encouraged NTSB to develop a new Safety Recommendation that urges state regulators to require municipalities (or whatever entity has jurisdiction) to mark underground sewer laterals.

NUCA suggested that this problem is big enough to warrant a Safety Recommendation on NTSB’s “Most Wanted” (top priority) list. NTSB staff was familiar with the problem of unmarked sewer laterals and said the agency would monitor future incidents for a potential Safety Recommenda-tion. NTSB also agreed to consider whether the issue could be addressed in a future NTSB Safety Study.