April is designated as National Safe Digging Month, and National Grid urges anyone who is planning on digging to call 811 to prevent serious personal injury, property damage and service interruptions caused by accidentally digging into electric, gas, telephone, water, sewer or cable facilities.

Nationally every nine minutes, an underground utility line is damaged because someone didn’t contact 811 before digging. Knowing where underground utility lines are buried before you dig will help protect you and your family from injury. With more people staying home and relying on their utilities to work and communicate, inconvenient outages are important to avoid.

“This year, it’s critically important to call 811 before you start digging to ensure all utility lines are marked. Even when digging only a few inches or taking on a small outdoor project, the risk of striking an underground utility is high,” said Mark Prewitt, VP Gas Pipeline Safety and Compliance. “This is a big responsibility that we all need to take a small part in.  By spreading the word to call 811 we can decrease damages, service interruptions, and injury—or even save a life.”

Striking a single underground utility line can cause injury, repair costs, fines, and inconvenient outages. Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants contacting 811. Whether you're planting a tree or shrub, or installing a deck or pool, every job requires a call to 811 to know what’s below before digging.

The depth of utility lines can vary for several reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches or digging in a location that’s previously been marked, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists. A call to 811 is the best safeguard and the first line of defense to preventing strikes on underground utility lines.

A quick phone call to 811 several days before digging connects callers to their local one call center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators then arrive at the digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, spray paint or both. The service is easy to use and free of charge.

State laws mandate that 811 must be contacted a few days in advance of beginning projects that require excavation. Failure to call 811 may be punishable by fines, which in some states can be as high as $1,000 for a first offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses.

National Grid works closely with local fire and police departments and, with their strong support, people are calling before they dig. Calling 811 can potentially avoid an incident that requires police and fire response.

About National Grid

About National Grid: National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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