The Show
Calling before you dig: a great idea that hasn't caught on
You would probably be surprised at how many utility lines are buried in your yard or under your front walk. There are water lines and sewer lines. There are cable TV lines and lines for the phone company. There are power cables. And there are natural gas pipes. If you’ve ever seen a sidewalk covered in a rainbow of construction-crew spraypaint, you’ll understand how elaborate the underground utility networks can be.
Here is some common sense: when you’re digging a hole, avoiding a utility line is much better than hitting one. In the case of natural gas, keeping the shovels away from the pipes can be a matter of life or death. So you may be disturbed to learn that Canada falls far behind the US in its prevention and enforcement efforts.
There is a culture of complacency here, too. Of the thousands of gas-line hits last year in Ontario, only one warranted a fine against the offending contractor. And, as Erica Johnson reports, when you ask contractors to build a fence in Vancouver, the results are potentially explosive.
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How they do things south of the border
A national “one call” program is available across the US. From any state, dialling 811 will connect you to the one call office for your area. The people who answer the phone then coordinate the process of sending one or more crews out to locate and mark utility lines. By law, all utilities must participate in the program. More information about the 811 program and the agency behind it, the Common Ground Alliance, is available on the “Call 811” website.
That’s the education and convenience side of things. The other is enforcement. In this, too, the American approach is more vigorous. In the state of Virginia, every person who hits a gas line has to appear in court. Since the launch of that program, gas-line strikes have fallen by a full 60 percent. For more information, see the Miss Utility of Virginia website.
In Canada, five provinces have one call systems of their own. The key difference between these systems and the US one is that here, utilities are not required to participate. So even if you do dial the one call number, you may still wind up with utility lines unmarked.
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Canadian one call services
In this country, only five provinces have one call numbers. Here are the numbers and web addresses.
| Province | Phone number | Web address |
| B.C. | 1-800-474-6886 | www.bconecall.bc.ca |
| Alberta | 1-800-242-3447 | www.alberta1call.com |
| Saskatchewan | 1-866-828-4888 | www.sask1stcall.com |
| Ontario | 1-800-400-2255 | www.on1call.com |
| Quebec | 1-800-663-9228 | www.info-ex.com |
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Some numbers
- There are approximately 3500-4000 gas pipeline hits in Ontario annually.
- BC recorded more than 1,700 hits to gas lines lines last year (2007), costing over $1 million in repairs. Over 74 percent of these were caused by people who did not call before digging.
- BC One call received 80,000 requests for information in 2006. The corresponding Alberta service received 423,000 calls, and Ontario one call took 570,000.
- Of 650 facility owners (that is, utilities and organizations that operate buried utility lines) in Ontario, only 118 belong to the province’s one call system.
- The no call rate for Ontario is 45-50 percent.
- Each year, failure to call for locates in Ontario leads to over $33 million dollars in damages. This includes the costs of police, firefighters, paramedics and related services, as well as utility and loss-of-business costs.
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The worst case scenario
Digging without first locating utility lines can be merely irritating, as it is when it knocks out cable TV. But when a shovel ruptures a natural gas pipe, the consequences can be deadly.
In April of 2003, a backhoe pierced a gas line near a strip mall in Etobicoke, a suburb in the west end of Toronto. The resulting explosion flattened the mall and also destroyed five apartments across the street. Seven people were killed.
The following links offer a history of the event and the following trial.
- The initial CBC News report
- A blog posting from Jim Service, a man who worked near the site, from the day following the explosion. (Note his story of the time he pierced a gas pipe himself)
- A CBC news report that charges had been laid against the gas company, the contractor, and the company hired to locate the gas lines
- A news report from the trial, in which the locator testified that finding the path of the gas lines was difficult, and that digging went ahead before his work was complete.
- CBC’s report that the construction company had been fined $225,000 for its role in the tragedy.
- A news report that charges against the gas utility and the locator had been dismissed.
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Digging Deep Credits
"Digging Deep"
Producer
Greg Sadler
Associate Producer
Enza Uda
Senior Researcher
Marlene McArdle
Editor
Aileen McBride
Camera
Ed Middleton
Neith MacDonald
Jeff Cole
Derek Hooper
Sound
Chris Davies
Bruce Dierick
Mary Wong
Graphics
Ron Sloan
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