AUGUST 11 IS NATIONAL 811 DAY AND SERVES AS AN IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS TO ALWAYS CALL 811 BEFORE DIGGING

Wall, N.J. –As August 11 approaches with dig safety awareness events taking place around the country, New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) is reminding all residents to call 811 prior to any digging project to have their underground utility lines marked. Excavation damage continues to be the number one cause of pipeline damage due to someone not following the law and digging without first calling 811.

Every digging project, no matter how large or small, requires a call to 811. Installing or replacing a fence or mailbox, building a deck, planting or removing a tree and laying a patio are all examples of digging projects that must start with a call to 811 before any work can begin.

“On August 11 and throughout the year, we encourage whoever is digging to always use safe digging practices. Making the call to 811 first is not only required by law, it is an important step to keeping people and our communities safe from harm” said Craig Lynch, senior vice president of energy delivery, at New Jersey Natural Gas.

Dialing 811 will connect you to a New Jersey One Call system operator who will obtain vital information, such as your address and type of work, and then notify the appropriate utility companies in your area of your intent to dig. Professional utility line locators will visit the dig site to mark the approximate locations of all underground utilities within the scope of the markout request, with colored flags, paint or both. Yellow indicates a natural gas line. 

Digging that occurs without the proper identification and marking of underground utility lines can result in the disruption of vital services, repair costs, fines and even serious injuries.

In recognition of National 811 Day, NJNG invites residents to attend its annual Dig Safely Fair on Friday, August 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Neptune Home Depot located at 3540 Route 66, to learn more about safe digging practices, including the do’s and don’ts of excavating. Representatives from NJNG, PSE&G, South Jersey Industries, New Jersey One Call, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and UtiliQuest will be on hand to educate attendees and answer questions about how to dig safely around natural gas lines, identify a natural gas leak and keep properties and communities safe. Social distancing and the wearing of face coverings by all attendees will be strictly enforced. Sanitizing stations will be placed outside all booths.

NJNG encourages homeowners to take the following steps before beginning to dig:

• Always call 811 at least three, but not more than 10, business days prior to the start of digging, regardless of the depth of the dig or your familiarity with the property.
• Before digging, confirm the markout has taken place. Yellow indicates the presence of underground natural gas lines.
• Respect all markings. Take a photo of the markout because inclement weather may wash away painted markings. Maintain the markouts until no longer necessary and move the location of your project if it is near utility line markings.
• Dig with care – hand dig within two feet of the outer wall of the underground facility. Natural gas service lines can look and feel like a tree root, and can be easily severed by a shovel.

For more information about 811 and safe digging practices, visit nj1-call.org or the My Safety section of njng.com. In the event of damage to a natural gas pipeline immediately call 911 followed by a call to NJNG at 800-GAS-LEAK (427-5325).

About New Jersey Resources

New Jersey Resources (NYSE: NJR) is a Fortune 1000 company that, through its subsidiaries, provides safe and reliable natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution, asset management and home services. NJR is composed of five primary businesses:

• New Jersey Natural Gas, NJR’s principal subsidiary, operates and maintains over 7,400 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve over half a million customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth, Ocean and parts of Morris, Middlesex and Burlington counties.
• NJR Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar and onshore wind projects with a total capacity of more than 315 megawatts, providing residential and commercial customers with low-carbon solutions.
• NJR Energy Services manages a diversified portfolio of natural gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural gas services and customized energy solutions to its customers across North America.
• NJR Midstream serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its 50 percent equity ownership in the Steckman Ridge natural gas storage facility and its stake in Dominion Midstream Partners, L.P., as well as its 20 percent equity interest in the PennEast Pipeline Project.
• NJR Home Services provides service contracts as well as heating, central air conditioning, water heaters, standby generators, solar and other indoor and outdoor comfort products to residential homes throughout New Jersey.

NJR and its more than 1,000 employees are committed to helping customers save energy and money by promoting conservation and encouraging efficiency through Conserve to Preserve^® and initiatives such as The SAVEGREEN Project^® and The Sunlight Advantage^®.

For more information about NJR:

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