O&R Urges Homeowners, DIYers To Use Online Tool to Help Ensure Safe Digging
Orange & Rockland (O&R) has always encouraged homeowners and professional excavators to CALL 811 to identify and locate underground utility lines (called a Location Request) before they begin any digging project to avoid potential personal injury and damage to property.
O&R’s partner in this process is Dig Safely New York, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safe digging practices and community safety.
As call volumes increase, however, hold times can increase as well, and impatient callers may leave the call and fail to submit a location request. That can put the caller and the community in jeopardy. To help eliminate this possibility, Dig Safely New York recently launched an online platform to provide another convenient way for those planning digging projects to submit a Location Request.
The new platform allows excavators and homeowners / DIYers a simpler solution to request underground utility mark-outs for their upcoming digging projects. Homeowners undertaking DIY projects as routine as planting a new tree or digging holes for fence posts or a roadside mailbox should submit a utility Location Request before beginning their projects.
To submit a Location Request online, visit Dig Safely New York’s website at: DigSafelyNewYork.com, and click “Submit a Location Request” at the bottom left of the screen. Then, register on the site and complete the online form.
Once the Location Request is submitted online, a utilities location technician will be dispatched to the site and mark with paint or small flags what’s underground on the property and where it is to make sure excavators do not damage any critical equipment, pipes, or wires.
Two O&R damage prevention technicians team up to locate and mark out underground O&R gas and electric facilities at a local home. In the foreground, James Misczuk uses a radio detection receiver to Iocate O&R underground gas facilities while J.D. Gallo follows to mark the locations with paint and flags. This procedure warns excavators to avoid digging near the facilities.
For more information about Orange & Rockland, visit: oru.com.
About Orange & Rockland
Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.