Know What’s Below: Call 8-1-1 Before You Dig
4/23/2010 11:08:00 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than 30 volunteers worked today to beautify the grounds of the City of Columbus Martin Janis Recreation Center and to send a message about working safely around underground utility pipelines and wires.
The Central Ohio Damage Prevention Council coordinated today’s activities with the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department and the Ohio Utilities Protection Service (O.U.P.S.). The council, whose members include area companies who own underground utility facilities, donated money to purchase plants and recruited volunteers to prepare landscape beds, prune, install new plants and spread mulch.
Ohio law requires anyone – even a homeowner planning to put a fence or mail box or plant a tree in their yard – to call O.U.P.S. at 8-1-1 at least two business days before digging to allow underground utility lines to be marked.
“Coming into contact with these lines can hurt or kill you, damage property and disrupt crucial utility service in your community,” said Central Ohio Damage Prevention Council President Scott Tustin. “It can also cost you money, as violators can be fined and billed for repair costs.”
In addition to highlighting the importance of calling 8-1-1, today’s event assisted the City of Columbus in sprucing up the entrance to the Janis Center, the first of the city’s recreation centers to re-open. The center was closed last year during the city’s budget crisis.
“I know how much this center means to our seniors that call this their home away from home,” said Columbus City Council Member Priscilla R. Tyson, chair of council’s Recreation & Parks Committee. “In times when we all have to make our dollars go farther and lend a hand to our neighbors, I was so excited that the Ohio Utilities Protection Service and the Central Ohio Damage Prevention Council offered to upgrade our landscaping here.”
Volunteers at today’s event represented American Electric Power, AT&T, the City of Columbus, Columbia Gas of Ohio, the Franklin County Engineer’s Office, IRTH Solutions, McFarland & Sons, NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage, O.U.P.S., R.F. Hunter, South Central Power and Time Warner.
Underground utility lines are struck about 256,000 times per year, and more than one third of those incidents could be prevented by calling 8-1-1.
Dialing 8-1-1 automatically directs callers to O.U.P.S., which alerts utilities and underground facility owners, who then identify and mark their lines in your yard. This is a free service.
Tustin offered some simple tips to avoid damaging underground utility facilities:
- Determine your project area and clearly mark it.
- Call 8-1-1 before beginning your project.
- Provide the name and contact information of the person digging.
- Allow at least two full business days for the companies to identify and mark the location of their underground lines.
“Know what’s below,” Tustin said. “Call before you dig. Let’s be safe out there this spring and summer.”
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