ATLANTA, Aug. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With
Aug. 11 almost here, Georgia Natural
Gas hopes this date on the calendar, 8/11, will serve as a natural
reminder for residents to call 811 before any digging project to
have underground utility lines marked. Every hour, more than six
damages to buried utilities occur because someone decided to dig
without first calling 811.
When calling 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to
Georgia 811, the local one call
center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their
intent to dig. Professional locators are then sent to the requested
digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines
with flags, spray paint or both.
Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, fines and
inconvenient outages. Every digging project, no matter how large or
small, warrants a call to 811. Installing a mailbox, building a
deck, planting a tree and laying a patio are all examples of
digging projects that need a call to 811 before starting.
"On Aug. 11 and throughout the year, we remind homeowners
and professional contractors alike to call 811 before digging to
eliminate the risk of striking an underground utility line," said
Mike Braswell, president of Georgia
Natural Gas, "It really is the only way to know which utilities are
buried in your area."
The depth of utility lines can vary for various 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, the risk of striking an underground utility line still
exists.
Visit www.call811.com for more information about 811 and safe
digging practices.
About Georgia Natural
Gas
Georgia Natural Gas is part of SouthStar Energy
Services®. SouthStar is owned by Southern Company Gas, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO). SouthStar
also operates in Ohio as Ohio
Natural Gas®, in Florida as
Florida Natural Gas®, in Maryland
as Maryland Energy®, in Michigan
as Grand Rapids Energy®, in New
York as New York Natural GasSM, in New Jersey as New Jersey Energy®, and in other
parts of the Southeast as SouthStar Energy Services. SouthStar's
subsidiaries in Illinois operate
under the brands Illinois Energy® and Illinois Energy Solutions®.
For more information, visit: www.gng.com.
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content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aug-11-811-serves-as-convenient-reminder-for-georgia-residents-to-always-call-811-before-digging-300695592.html
SOURCE Georgia Natural Gas