New Jersey Natural Gas

ON NATIONAL 811 DAY, NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS REMINDED TO CALL 811 BEFORE DIGGING TO HELP KEEP COMMUNITIES SAFE

07/31/2023 - For Immediate Release

Wall, N.J. – As August 11 approaches, New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) reminds residents to help keep themselves and communities safe with a call to 811 before the start of any digging project to have underground public utility lines marked.

Any digging project, no matter how small the job may seem, warrants a call to 811. Common homeowner projects that result in damage to underground utility lines include installing or replacing a fence or mailbox; gardening and landscaping, including planting a tree or removing a shrub; laying a patio and repaving the driveway. Utility lines may be buried only inches below the surface due to erosion, previous digging, uneven surfaces or other reasons.

Every few minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first calling 811. Striking a single line can result in injury, property damage, repair costs, fines and inconvenient outages. NJNG encourages safety awareness to help eliminate any risk. “Residents, businesses and professional contractors alike can help be a part of the solution,” said John Wyckoff, vice president of Energy Delivery at New Jersey Natural Gas. “By contacting 811 for a free mark out you can know which public utilities are buried in your area so you can dig safely.”

In recognition of National 811 Day, NJNG invites residents to learn more about safe digging practices at its annual Dig Safely Fair on Friday, August 11, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at The Home Depot® in Brick Township, 1722 Route 88. Representatives from NJNG will be on hand to educate attendees and answer questions about how to dig safely around natural gas facilities, identify a natural gas leak and keep property and communities safe.

State law requires a call to 811 — the national call before you dig number — for a free mark out of public underground utility lines. In New Jersey, residents are connected to New Jersey One Call, which notifies underground utility operators of the intent to dig. Professional locators will arrive at the intended digging site to mark the approximate locations of all underground utility lines with flags, spray paint or both — all at no cost to the customer. Yellow paint and flags indicate a natural gas line.

NJNG encourages homeowners to be a partner in safety and follow these important steps:

Always call 811 at least three, but not more than 10, business days prior digging, regardless of the depth of the dig or your familiarity with the property.
Before digging, confirm the mark out has taken place. Yellow paint and flags indicate the presence of underground natural gas lines.
Respect all markings. Take a photo of the mark out as inclement weather may wash away painted markings. Maintain the marks until no longer necessary and move the location of your project if it is near utility line markings.
Dig with care and respect the tolerance zone – remember to always use hand tools to dig within two feet of the outer area of the marked utility lines and expose the utility lines prior to using mechanized equipment. Natural gas service lines can look and feel like a tree root, and easily be severed by a shovel or post hole digger.
Download the New Jersey One Call app (available for Apple and Android devices) to manage requests as well as access resources and instructional videos easily and quickly.

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 relocate to a safe location and 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 7,700 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve more 570,000 customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth, Ocean and parts of Morris, Middlesex, Sussex and Burlington counties.
Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar projects with a total capacity of more than 430 megawatts, providing residential and commercial customers with low-carbon solutions.
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.
Storage and Transportation serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its ownership of Leaf River Energy Center and the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline, as well as our 50% equity ownership in the Steckman Ridge natural gas storage facility.
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 nearly 1,300 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:
www.njresources.com
Follow us on Twitter @NJNaturalGas.
“Like” us on facebook.com/NewJerseyNaturalGas.

Contact:

Mike Kinney, Media
732-938-1031

Adam Prior, Investors
732-938-1145

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