Be Our Partner in Safe, Reliable Natural Gas Delivery
What is your role?
Because you live or work in the general area of an underground natural gas pipeline system, you play a key role as our partner in keeping that system safe, reliable and secure.
We operate an underground network of pipelines and related equipment that bring clean-burning natural gas to homes, businesses and factories in your area.
As part of our effort to increase your awareness of pipeline safety and maintenance, this brochure will explain how to identify our pipeline equipment, how to detect and report suspicious activity around them, and most importantly how to prevent damage and protect against personal injury. Please share this information with others at your address. For more information, visit www.safegasohio.org.
Be Cautious About Blocked Sewer Lines
- What is your role?
- Pipelines deliver our nation's energy
- Keeping the public and our pipelines safe is our top priority
- Natural gas lines - What is your responsibility?
- Pipeline rights of way help protect your safety
- How to identify underground natural gas pipelines
- Use your senses to detect a natural gas leak
- If you suspect a gas leak...
- Be alert to suspicious activity
- Call before you dig - it's the law!
- Contractors and excavators
- If you hit a pipeline...
- Emergency responders and public safety officials
- Emergency action guidelines
- What the gas company will do
Pipelines deliver our nation's energy
Many people don't realize the importance of our nation's natural gas pipeline system. Each day the underground invisible network of over a million miles of pipeline safely carries natural gas from supply areas to customers' homes, businesses and factories across the country.
The natural gas industry has a proven record of safety. You can learn more about the record and safety procedures by visiting the Web site of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety at www.phmsa.dot.gov. PHMSA is the federal agency that regulates safety aspects of the gas industry.
Keeping the public and our pipelines safe is our top priority
Our gas control and monitoring center offices operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week. We regularly patrol our pipeline rights of way and conduct regular inspections of our pipeline system. Our operation employees receive regular training and are qualified under U.S. Department of Transportation standards for natural gas pipeline operators.
We spend millions of dollars each year in pipeline replacements and upgrades. Employees are on-call at all times to respond to any contingency. In addition, we work with emergency responders to make them aware of our pipelines and how to respond in case of emergency.
In accordance with federal regulations, some segments along the pipeline have been designated as High Consequence Areas. We have developed supplemental assessments and prevention plans for these highly populated areas with transmission pipelines.
Natural gas lines - What is your responsibility?
Natural gas is transported from producing wells through large underground pipelines called transmission lines. The gas then travels to cities and towns through main lines. From the main lines, natural gas is carried to your home or business through service lines, which stop at the gas meter. Columbia Gas of Ohio owns and maintains the main supply lines to the curb box at the street. However, the property owner is responsible for repairing or replacing all service lines and house lines beyond the curb box, including any that extend beyond the meter to the appliances in your home or business.
If buried piping isn't maintained, it might become subject to corrosion and leakage over time. For your safety, we inspect pipelines for leakage on a regular basis. If the line is metallic, we also inspect it for corrosion. Our routine inspection covers all gas piping between the company supply line and the meter.
If our inspection detects a problem in any portion of the piping that you own, we may interrupt your service until you have had it repaired. Any inspection, installation, repair or replacement of natural gas lines or appliances should be done only by a licensed heating/cooling contractor or plumber who is certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation. If the contractor fails to follow appropriate procedures and does not sign and leave a yellow "Service Qualification Card" at the work site, Columbia Gas will not be able to restore service.
Pipeline rights of way help protect your safety
A pipeline right of way is the strip of land over and around a pipeline. Rights of way are kept clear of obstructions to enable the gas company to safely operate, patrol, inspect, maintain and repair its pipelines. We regularly inspect our rights of ways.
A right of way agreement between the gas company and the property owner is called an easement. Easements provide the gas company with permanent, limited interest to the land to enable us to access, operate, test, inspect, maintain and protect our pipelines. Although agreements may vary, rights of way can extend up to 25 feet each way from the center of the pipeline.
If the gas company has an easement on your property, you should be aware of our guidelines for encroachment and construction near natural gas pipeline equipment. They can be found on our Web site or by calling our toll-free number.
It's important that property owners not install any structures, store anything that could be an obstruction, or plant trees or shrubs along the right of way. Normal gardening and agricultural activities are generally acceptable. But you should never dig or construct anything in the area without first having a gas company representative mark the pipeline, stake the right of way and explain the company's construction guidelines.
How to identify underground natural gas pipelines
Natural gas pipelines are sometimes identified by markers placed at intervals along pipeline rights of way. Markers display 24-hour emergency telephone numbers and might provide other identifying information. They are generally placed wherever needed to indicate the presence of a pipeline, such as where a pipeline easement intersects a street, railroad, or river and in heavily congested areas.
Pipeline markers are important to your safety. It's a federal crime to willfully deface, damage, remove or destroy any pipeline sign or right-of-way marker.
While the markers are very helpful to indicate the presence of pipelines in the area, they don't show the exact location, depth, or how many pipelines are in the right of way. Don't rely solely on the presence or absence of a pipeline marker. Always call your state's one-call notification service to have underground pipelines marked.
Use your senses to detect a natural gas leak
Natural gas pipelines have a proven record of safety. Sometimes, however, pipeline failure can occur. Hazards associated with a pipeline failure and gas release may include blowing gas, line rupture, fire, explosion or, if gas is present in a confined area, possible asphyxiation.
Damage by outside force, often by someone digging into a pipeline, is the largest single cause of failures. Incidents may occur due to corrosion, material failure, equipment failure or other causes, also.
Look
- Dirt being blown or appearing to be thrown in the air
- Water bubbling or being blown into the air at a pond, creek, river or other wet areas
- Fire coming from the ground or appearing to burn above the ground
- Dead or dying vegetation on or near a pipeline right of way in an otherwise green area
- Dry or frozen spot on the right of way
Listen
- Hissing, blowing or roaring sound
Smell
- Rotten egg or petroleum odor
If you suspect a gas leak...
Do
- If you smell gas inside, get out immediately.
- If you suspect a leak outside, turn off and abandon any motorized equipment you might be using.
- Leave the area quickly.
- Warn others to stay away from the area.
- From a safe place, call our emergency number and your fire department or police.
Don't
- Use open flame or anything that would spark ignition, such as cell phones, flashlights, motor vehicles, power tools, electrical equipment, etc.
- Attempt to operate pipeline valves
Be alert to suspicious activity
Since you live and work in an area near our transmission and service lines, we encourage you to take an active role in helping us keep our pipelines safe. Besides being aware of signs of a gas leak or digging along pipeline rights of way, please be alert to suspicious individuals or activities around our pipelines and contact police. Our employees and contractors carry photo identification and will gladly show it upon request.
Call before you dig - it's the law!
By law, anyone planning to excavate is required to call the state's one-call notification service before work begins. Whether you're planning an excavation as part of a home landscaping project or building a major development, avoid property damage and personal injury by calling the Ohio Utilities Protection Service (OUPS) at 1-800-362-2764 at least two full working days before you start to dig.
The service will notify all utilities to mark the approximate location of underground service lines that might be in the construction area at no cost to residential customers. Learn more about the law and the services OUPS provides at www.OUPS.org.
Contractors and excavators
Pipeline damage is most frequently caused by contractors doing excavation or other work that could disturb underground utility lines. Don't take chances! Dig-ins may result in loss of life, personal injury, property damage, or liability for costly repairs. Call your state's one-call notification service in advance of any excavation, or if you're planning to cross pipeline rights of way with heavy equipment or to perform blasting in the vicinity of any pipelines.
If you hit a pipeline...
If you expose, hit, or touch a pipeline or other natural gas equipment, call our emergency number immediately. Even if it looks minor at the time, a scratch, scrape, gouge, dent or crease to the pipe or coating might cause a safety problem in the future. It's important that we inspect any potential damage, whether or not it's apparent.
Emergency responders and public safety officials
As a public utility, we consider emergency responders as part of our safety team. It's important for fire and police officials to be familiar with the location of our pipeline facilities in their area. That's why we participate in meetings with other pipeline companies, mail information regularly, and routinely work with emergency responders to be prepared for any possible incident.
Emergency action guidelines
Follow these guidelines to help safeguard the public in the event of a pipeline emergency:
Do
- Report the type (leak, rupture, fire, other) and location of the emergency to your local gas company or the appropriate pipeline company immediately.
- Secure a safety zone around the emergency site and control access. This might include evacuating people within the safety zone.
- Allow gas company employees access to the area and work with them to control the emergency.
- Be aware of wind direction and possible flammable sources.
- Check sewers, drains and nearby buildings for migrated gas.
- Preserve the area for accident investigation.
Don't
- If gas is not burning, avoid doing anything that could ignite it.
- If gas is burning, control secondary fires, but do not attempt to put out a pipeline fire unless directed by gas company personnel.
- Do not attempt to operate pipeline valves.
What the gas company will do
In the event of a pipeline emergency, our company will work to control the situation immediately by taking these actions:
- Evacuate and isolate the area
- Notify appropriate public safety officials and work with them during the emergency
- Locate the site of the emergency and stop or reduce gas flow to the affected area
- Repair the equipment and restore service to customers
- Investigate the cause of the incident
