`CALL BEFORE YOU DIG' CAN BE CRITICAL TO SAFETY

When the lines need markin',

To set up your rig,

Call the One-Call center,

so you can safely dig.

-- One-Call slogan

An excavator made a 100-foot geyser after he hit a water main while working on a Los Angeles hospital's parking lot, more than 100,000 telephone customers in Arkansas were without service when a city crew cut a Southwestern Bell cable and a gas main ruptured by a backhole disrupted gas service to a Springfield, Ill., hospital for two hours.

These are all "good news" hits of underground lines.

There have been some far worse, including the deaths of three workers after an excavator cut into water mains in Southern California. The men drown when water from the mains filled the trenches where they worked.

The monthly accident file of excavation equipment ruptures of underground lines is lengthy, and utility and government data have shown most underground line damage was from excavators who didn't call before digging.

"We've been lucky in the Southeast Missouri area," said Doug Groesbeck, district manager of Union Electric in Cape Girardeau.

Groesbeck credits the state's "Call Before You Dig" program for the few underground line accidents.

But a potentially dangerous situation presented itself recently, Groesbeck. "Fortunately, everything turned out OK."

More than a week ago, a contractor called the Missouri 1-800-Dig-Rite number before digging at a road site in the Nash Road Industrial Park.

An appointment was made for Union Electric to "stake out" a 6-inch, 250-pound pressure gas line near the site, said Groesbeck.

"We don't know why, but the contractor decided to dig the day before the appointment, and it happened ... the equipment hit the gas line," he said. Escaping gas could be heard over a wide area.

"Any time you hit a natural gas line that size, a severe explosion is possible," he said.

Union Electric was called.

It took about two hours before the line was shut down and capped, said Ralph Maxton, supervising engineer with Union Electric.

"This whole incident was a disappointment," said Groesbeck. "A game plan was in place, but the contractor did not follow it. We're just glad that the only damage that took place was replaceable. One spark could have leveled a wide area there."

Missouri's "One-Call" system is designed to prevent such occurrences as that one in the Nash Industrial Park area.

"A caller is required to give two days notice of excavation," said Charlotte Baclesse of the Missouri One-Call System in Jefferson City. The MOCS notifies all utilities -- telephone, water and gas. They in turn check for lines in that particular area.

"If we have a line in that area, we go out, mark the location and oversee the digging operation," said Groesbeck.

MOCS was established in 1986 as a means to protect underground facilities and assist excavators and utilities in complying with Missouri's underground facility safety and damage prevention statute.

The MOCS office's toll-free telephone number operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Missouri operation receives many calls, according to Baclesse. "We received our one-millionth call two years ago," she noted. "The rules are not just for contractors. It applies to home owners, too."

People, including excavators, who violate the one-call regulation are subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 a day per violation, up to $500,000. The penalties may be sought by the Missouri Attorney General or local prosecuting attorneys.

Missouri is one of many states with the one-call system. New York has the program; Texas does not, and a federal one-call bill has been introduced in the House the past two years.