Rockland Electric Marks National 811 Day; Urges You to Call 8-1-1 Before You Dig; It Protects the Public, Diggers and Utilities From Damage. And, It’s the Law
Rockland Electric Company, and many of the nation’s other utilities who operate facilities and equipment underground, mark Friday 8/11 as National 811 Day to remind all professional excavators and Do It Yourselfers (DIY) to call 811 to place an underground utility location request for their digging projects in New Jersey.
Calling 811 automatically connects diggers to New Jersey One Call, which provides a link between diggers and the underground utility operators. Placing a location request by calling 811 is the first step in a safe digging project.
Location requests should be placed at least three full business days (excluding weekends and holidays), but not more than 10 days, before beginning an excavation project.
O&R Senior Damage Prevention Tech James Misczuk is planting a small flag on this residential lawn to mark out the location of underground utility equipment. Misczuk has already marked the same location with yellow paint. This procedure warns excavators to avoid digging near the facilities to help prevent damage.
Here’s how the underground location request system works:
After a location request is placed, the New Jersey One Call organization processes and transmits the information to the local underground utility operators who are responsible for marking out the approximate location of any underground public utilities in the dig area.
“Whether you are a homeowner doing a backyard digging project for the first time, or a professional excavator with years of experience, placing a location request by calling 811 at least three days before beginning your digging project in New Jersey is essential,” said Rockland Electric Company Field Operations Planner John Flynn.
He added, “Digging without placing a location request dramatically increases your risk of causing damage to underground utilities and injury to your workers and the public.”
Excavators who damage underground facilities because they did not follow the state regulations and damage utility equipment are subject to hefty fines and repair costs.
If you smell gas, immediately leave the area and call 911, or your local gas utility. You can report gas leaks anonymously.
About Rockland Electric Company
Rockland Electric Company is a regulated electric utility that serves 73,000 customers in parts of Bergen, Passaic and Sussex County in New Jersey. Rockland Electric is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., which in turn is owned by Consolidated Edison, Inc.