Over 400 incidents of customers or contractors damaging underground gas lines while digging or excavating were recorded last year by Mobile Gas.   The company operates over 2,200 miles of natural gas distribution pipeline and over 50 miles of transmission pipeline. 

 Spring and summer are active seasons for working outdoors, and Mobile Gas is urging customers to take steps to avoid damaging underground gas lines when digging or excavating. “Underground pipelines and utility services can be located almost anywhere—under streets, sidewalks or in your yard,” said Jason Weekley, director of operations. “Know where those lines are before digging.”

Homeowners should make a quick phone call to Alabama One Call at 8-1-1 to have utilities lines identified and marked for free.   Calls to Alabama One Call prior to digging are required under state law and should be made 48 hours prior to starting a job.  “A quick call can avoid service interruptions or potential injuries,” Weekley said.  Once all lines are marked, customers should carefully use only hand-digging tools within two feet of marked gas lines.
To find out if natural gas transmission pipelines are in a specific area, visit the National Pipeline Mapping System web site at www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov.

Mobile Gas is a natural gas utility serving approximately 95,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Mobile and the surrounding areas of southwest Alabama. The utility is a unit of Sempra Energy’s Sempra Pipelines & Storage subsidiary.  Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.