Underground Construction - July 2017 - 20

3 Magic Numbers - 811
excavation damage, which bears
testament to the 811 system.
How easy is it to work with
the 811 system?
Although the 811 systems vary
by state, the basics are consistent
and easy to work in. It is always
a bonus when helpful individuals
from the state One-Call Centers
assist us.
How do you promote the 811
system?
Some of the ways Denbury currently promotes the 811 system
is through brochures delivered to
a variety of stakeholders at specified intervals, annual face-to-face
meetings with select stakeholders,
811 stickers placed on hard hats,
the Denbury Public Awareness
website and the Denbury Corporate Responsibility Report. Denbury is always exploring additional
options.
Have you had an incident or
accident in which 811 was NOT
called first?
Fortunately, Denbury has never
experienced a DOT-PHMSA reportable incident (gas) or accident
(liquids) on a pipeline. However,
there have been near misses over
the years due to excavators giving
wrong coordinates to the One-Call
Center or not calling in a locate before digging. Part of Denbury's due
diligence when this occurs is educating the party about the 811 system and explaining the importance
of providing accurate information
and/or calling in a locate.

Other issues
Of course, interstate pipeline operators also contend with topography issues peculiar to the region
they are transporting through.
TransCanada, for instance, has
lines crossing through heavy working forests in Texas with active
timber harvesting. TransCanada
works with the Texas Forestry Association to remind loggers to call
811 before crossing a pipeline right
of way. Heavily loaded logging

20

ucononline.com

If all of the buried utilities in the United States were
laid end to end, it would take a beam of light over a
minute and a half to go from one end to the other.
That's over a football field in length of buried utilities
for every man, woman and child in the nation. And
every six minutes, one of those lines - possibly one
of yours - is hit because someone excavated without
calling 811 first.

trucks can crush, crimp, compress
and otherwise play havoc with buried pipelines.
"TransCanada is one of
many companies that operates
high-pressure oil pipelines through
Texas' timber forests," said Tim
Fehr, community relations specialist for TransCanada Keystone
Pipelines, L.P. "We would like to be
contacted at least 48 hours in advance, either directly or by calling
811. This is so we can determine
a safe crossing. We do not want
to slow down loggers' work progress, but want to keep them safe,
along with the public, landowner's
property and the integrity of our
pipeline."
811 call centers also do work
on their own to make sure their
members are as protected as possible. Texas is home to Texas811
(texas811.org), a 30-plus-year-old
non-profit call center that is also
the largest single center by volume
in the nation, handling close to 3
million incoming locate request
calls in 2016.
A major activity of Texas811 in
educating the public is the Damage Prevention Councils of Texas
(dpcoftexas.com). Over 20 of these
councils cover Texas, along with
five Damage Prevention Managers, each responsible for a block
of councils. Each council meets
monthly with stakeholders, excavators and others with an interest
in protecting underground assets.
"We work closely with the pipeline companies to ensure that their
assets are protected from harm,"
said Jim Bob Sims, Texas811's director of damage prevention. "We
encourage stakeholders and excavators to attend free meetings of
our Damage Prevention Councils
that are held throughout the state
on a very regular basis, to learn
more about what 811 does and
how we work with them."
Additionally, in partnership
with Enertech, the Damage Prevention Councils host Safety Days
across the state in which attendees
can see for themselves what hapUnderground Construction July 2017
http://www.texas811.org http://www.dpcoftexas.com http://www.ucononline.com
Underground Construction - July 2017

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