Merrillville, Ind. — National Safe Digging Day is August 11 (8/11), and NIPSCO is urging customers and contractors to call 811 at least two business days before starting any digging projects.
Digging into underground utility lines poses a serious risk to homeowners, businesses and NIPSCO’s natural gas and electric systems. Calling 811, a free national service that locates and marks underground utilities, helps prevent dangerous situations. This important step is not only for your safety – it’s the law.
According to data collected by Common Ground Alliance (CGA), an underground utility line is damaged every six minutes. This may result in death or injury, repair costs and inconvenient outages.
Whether you are planting a tree or installing a mailbox, NIPSCO urges you to know where the buried gas, power, water, sewer and telecommunication lines are located. There are more than 20 million miles of underground utilities in the United States, according to CGA. That figure is equivalent to more than one football field’s length (105 yards) of buried utilities for every man, woman and child in the United States.
Safe digging tips from NIPSCO:
- Homeowners, businesses and contractors are required to call 811 at least two full business days before they intend to dig.
- 811 is a free service that allows you to get your utility lines marked free of charge just by calling.
- Avoid starting projects until you are sure all lines are marked. 811 will read a list of which companies should respond.
- Upon telling the operator where you’re planning to dig and what type of work you will be doing, professional utility-locating technicians will arrive at the location within two working days to identify and mark the approximate location of the underground lines with spray paint or flags.
- After the site has been accurately marked, it is safe to begin digging carefully around the marked areas.
- Choose another location on the property for a project if the original planned site is near utility line markings.
- Calling 811 helps you and your neighbors avoid injuries, property damage, repair costs and inconvenient outages.
- Tell neighbors, coworkers, family and friends about 811 if they discuss their plans for an outdoor home improvement project with you.
- Due to large call volumes and possible wait times, you can also request a locate online at 811NOW.com.
For additional information on 811 visit NIPSCO.com/811.
About NIPSCO: Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), with headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana, has proudly served the energy needs of northern Indiana for more than 100 years. As Indiana’s largest natural gas distribution company and the second-largest electric distribution company, NIPSCO serves approximately 810,000 natural gas and 460,000 electric customers across 32 counties. NIPSCO is part of NiSource’s (NYSE: NI) seven regulated utility companies. NiSource is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 4 million natural gas and electric customers through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. More information about NIPSCO and NiSource is available at NIPSCO.com and NiSource.com.