WAYNE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 60 CONKLIN HILL ROAD, DAMASCUS, PA 18415 |
NEWS ITEMS COURTESY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA TOWNSHIP NEWS MAGAZINE
PRESENTED BY THE DAMASCUS TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
8-1-1: Alliance Launches New
Call-Before-You-Dig Telephone Number
There’s a new number in
town, and the Common Ground Alliance is urging the public to dial it before
they dig.
CGA, a utility
damage-prevention coalition in Alexandria, Va., and its partners launched
8-1-1, the nation’s new
standardized “Call Before You Dig” number, this past spring. Already, it is
available in much of the U.S, including Pennsylvania. The organization is
hoping that more people will use the three-digit alert — much like they dial
9-1-1 in an emergency — to prevent unnecessary injury, protect underground
utilities, and avoid expensive repairs and fines when excavating.
“Every minute, 680,000
utility lines are damaged nationwide, and 40 percent of the damage is caused by
people who fail to call before they dig,” says Khrysanne Kerr, CGA’s director
of program development. These statistics, she adds, were alarming enough to
prompt Congress to mandate the creation of 8-1-1 in 2005.
Now, CGA is on a mission to
educate the nation, particularly do-it-yourselfers, about the phone number and
the need to make that all-important call. The effort includes a large-scale public
awareness campaign and a Web site, www.call811.com. According to CGA, roughly
90 percent of homeowners are unaware that they must dial 8-1-1 when they intend
to move dirt, even if it’s for a small project, such as planting a tree or
installing a mailbox.
“We realize it will take
time to change behavior,” Kerr says, “so we’re on a marathon, not a sprint.”
Although in its infancy, the
campaign appears to be working: 8-1-1 has been dialed more than 5.7 million
times since it was introduced earlier this year, according to the Web site.
“Now that there is a single
number to call, any time, there is no excuse for putting lives at risk by
striking a utility line,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said
at the 8-1-1 launch event. “If 9-1-1 is the number you call to report
emergencies, 8-1-1 is the number to call to prevent them.”