Page 16 - Louisiana 811 Magazine 2017 Issue 2

‘r’KeV‘i5§li"s“v‘c“e‘a“r’e"r“ ! I I
Jackson MS —.

" 'vt: been in business for over shoele when he drives a post into the for maxklng their own lines 7 often by
40 years and never hit any ground so he ean put up a iencel He's using a locate service (Tl-Cy are the
uridergrounrl lines. why should 1 "nut in the country" 7 nowhere near a one» with the 'mag-c wand’ — zmur-<1

eall 2117" road nghl-of-way} ”Well, yes 71 thunk it penetrating rarlar among other tlirngs )

- - , ~ 211'. li. lll l -
:”Ve11l,(Ioe,tflur lane thing, genre: H‘ :: ‘;‘"“l‘° b“ “dP;’"‘:S° “J”? y 1 marL't°heir lIl‘l?i:‘.si):x‘“ln}1:z;:rt<l‘:2,s:z‘x‘"l:l|eCc; (0
reaing re awi you on. n e e rpeinean aza ous aenas d h‘ d’ I

past 40 years, while you were busy saiety Administration (PHMSA) u‘c‘f(’:'t“_gV':l“‘:ch‘;j'm:;:’;;i’;:‘;;l:’:;“
NOT digging into unrlerground utility is a united states Department of mm the law NOW W‘; m cm“ and
lines way out there in the country, a Transportation ageney ereated in mm 7 my kgfll Ag ‘mg a‘ you don“
iew things were going on: Lines were 2004, responsibletor developing and (“E “Mun 18 muggy. 5‘ the wflde of
lieing extended iurther and turther entoreing regulations for the safe, hmhm hm ymm, gold

out into the country; never mind some reliable, anrl environmentally sound ’ ' ’

lines were already out there befom you operation of the us’ 2.5 niillron inrle ‘Tm insured", you say? No, not for
ever started lieing an excavator. No, not pipeline transportation. lt oversees the this, you aren't, not it you don't have a
eable or phone lines 7 natural gas anrl nation's pipeline inrrastrueture, wlireli llcket. Suzpn~2d7?

oil pipelines were there. They added aecounts for 64 pereent of the energy

. lnsuranee eoinpanies have begun
the cable, phone, water and sewer lines eoinniodities eonsumerl in the united d _ _ _
enyrng claims for losses tor those who
later. states. Marle up of the Offlct: oi Pipeline ,
rlon tcall betore they rlrg 7 and have
safety and the ottiee oi Hr1zaxdnu~
when the pipelines were laid, the the ticket to prove it. They may have
. Materials satety. . ,

design was to go through that Pilld last year, but not anymore. why.
eountrysrde in the rnost direet way to PHMSA is Federal anrl is enfnrclng You have violated the law If you lrrt a
get their contents where it needed to undergrounrl saiety If your state line 7 let's say you eut a $25,000 iilier
go No one checked with the erties as to doesn't have penalties withiri their opt-C P1-Om 1-n= WOW.’ But wnmz, no
where they might be expanding over laws, PHMSA ean anrl will levy one ean eall 911. the lire depariinent,
the next sin years 7 these were oil anrl penalties 7 which are quite steep. }I°>‘P|‘v11» dnctnn — it's a really bad

gas operators. They lairl that pipe in insurance never, ever pays fines and thing, learlrng to all sorts of potential
the quickest, most direct way possible penalties 211 has gotten legislation lawsuits soineone has to pay for this

7 anrl they sparerl no expense getting it through that mitigates seine ot these rlamage 7 but wait: 7 you have a locate
done, either. penalties for violations, because llckct. For which you ean thank 311

PHMSA is not of a mind to iorgive a without it, you are on the hook for ALL
Th” “‘ ‘}“““51‘ ‘°““"Y““‘ “ “'°°d" iirst-time offense. of it. And there is no eovera e an lmum
E >

they eut through areas where roads M Mm happmcd

would soineday pass; they ran near Ioe, it almost doc~n'I rnatter who you

srnall towns whreh would later lieeoine are anrl what you are rloing. These so, Joe 71 know you're a busy rnan,

lirg towns anrl erties Forty years is a days, even a horneowner driving a and you can" W148 lwuh to act a lob
long tirne 7 time for the grounrl to rnove post to put up a fence, or a surveyor moving anrl all that 7 but 1 think you
and "walk” 7 inostly tor those pipelines setting stalees 7 it you poke a hole in the am a man man, too. I dunk you can

to shirt, not to be where they were put ground, the law says you HAVE to eall -we -1 x~'n'I wnnh n~k-ng cvvrythms you
long years ago. Those old paper inaps 311 Every time have You didn't make it in -18 hours 7
mi mutt an vim. mums an Ym0m_ H H H but you sure ean lose it over a -18 hour

‘ 3 ox ,yn-I my 5°1=fl'1811rW}'=“ wa1l.Yuurin~uranc2 eoinpanv can't
It's a lot easier to hit a pipeline today are they gonna do? How do they find help you but En can pm,Em"hm
than it was back in the day Those whars under where l'iri gonna digit from m'dmg to

expanding lO\\'t'l'|~ have put pipelines those inaps aren't accuratn? They have

srnaele within their erty limits And some lonrl oi 'magic wr1nd’?” You'll soon be telling your customer
over the years, there have been quite he can’l have it tomorrow. You have to
a few unknown contractors who have MW" 3”“ ‘:1: 3“ “"“‘}‘‘°‘' :*‘°‘“ ‘f’1‘(‘“§ call 811 By the way. Joe, be sure to tell
"nicked" a line trom time to time. Now Y3: vim‘!-I ‘oh 1:; Um; rP° clan} In your trrenrls that tiines have ehanged
and then, a horneowner gets a real ‘’ ° :81“ ‘ _“g§°;"‘ H’ K”? ‘f‘ 9 ‘° 7 they'd better call 311. Their insuranee

wait ours w ii e a t e rnes get mn,‘hdPt1mm/mm .
N . Wm_ EH 201, M22 mr1rk2d.Each utility is responsible