As cleanup and rebuilding is underway in communities impacted by last month’s devastating floods, the West Virginia Damage Prevention Committee would like to remind everyone conducting these projects to call 811 before beginning any project that involves digging to avoid striking underground utilities.
Landowners, contractors, or anyone beginning a project that requires putting a shovel, bucket or blade into the ground should always call 811 at least two days, but not more than 10 days. Once your call is made local utilities in the area will be notified to mark the buried utilities in the area you plan to work.
Striking an underground utility can result in inconvenient outages for entire neighborhoods. It may cause harm to yourself or someone else, and it could result in fines and/or costly repairs. Under WV Title 18, a person shall be fined, imprisoned, or both if the person knowingly and willfully engages in an excavation activity without first using the available One Call Notification System, 811 in this case, to establish the location of underground facilities in the excavation area or without paying attention to appropriate location information or markings provided by the facility operator.
Safe excavation during a restoration or rebuilding project begins with a call to 811. More information is available at www.wv811.com. Mark Newman is Senior Engineer for TransCanada/Columbia Pipeline Group, and Chairman of West Virginia Damage Prevention Committee. He can be reached at mnewman@cpg.com or 304-722-8475.
