Dig Safely

Does spring give you the urge to plant or build? If your spring DIY project involves digging, be sure to call 8-1-1 first to submit a request to have underground utilities marked. It’s free, and it’s easy. Listen to Derek Leffert from Missouri One Call and Dan Ulhorn from Macon Electric Cooperative discuss how members can stay safe and avoid legal issues by calling 8-1-1 before they dig.

Transcript

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Erin 0:04

Hi, my name is Erin , and I am a cooperative member. I love being a cooperative member because of the energy resources that are available.

Harrison Waters 0:38

Welcome to The Power For Your Life podcast, where we focus on energy efficiency, the value of electric, cooperative membership, and safety around electricity. I'm Harrison Waters, your host, and today we'll be discussing digging safely. You know, as the weather warms up, you might be ready to dig into some outdoor projects, but remember, if your project involves actual digging, there's some steps you might want to take to comply with laws. And staying safe with me by phone today to talk about how to stay safe when working on projects that involve digging is Dan Ulhorn with Macon Electric Cooperative and Derrick Leffert with Missouri One Call. Thank you both for joining me today.

Derrick Leffert 1:16

Appreciate the invitation.

Dan Ulhorn 1:18

Thank you. Glad to be here.

Harrison Waters 1:19

Absolutely. So we know that we need to have safe digging practices for many reasons. You know, maybe tell me to start, what's, what's the most important reason we need to be safe while we're digging?

Derrick Leffert 1:31

Well, I, I can probably start with that and then Dan could certainly add into this. Uh, you know, there are , there's a significant risk associated with people that are, that are doing excavation work, especially as it relates to underground utilities. There's excavation, safety, you know, trench collapses and things like that to consider. But the primary thing that they need to be worried about is all of the, the various different lines that are buried under the ground, specifically the gas and electric. You know, those are the things that could certainly hurt you or kill you . So that's the , the primary reason that that folks need to use our system.

Dan Ulhorn 2:03

Yeah, I just kind of piggyback off that. Um , it's just really important that our members are, know that there's, it's real danger down there and you can't see it under the ground, but it's , um, electricity and it's , um, it , it only gives you one chance.

Harrison Waters 2:18

Right. Now, is there a specific season that this occurs or is this a year round problem? Are a lot of people in spring starting to do some of these backyard projects? So this is probably more , you know, the more common time period for it.

Derrick Leffert 2:32

Yeah, you , this is April . April is a actually safe digging month. So it's an opportunity for us to really kind of , uh, expose the , what, what is out there and what folks need to be doing. Uh , and the reason April is safe digging month is because for the very reason that you just mentioned, you know, there's, there's , uh, everybody's wanting to , to get started on their , on their projects that they've been waiting all winter to get done. So , uh, it's now's a good time.

Dan Ulhorn 2:57

Yeah, I agree. It's , um, you know, all the stimulus checks and everything going on and tax money coming in, people have got a lot of projects this spring and , uh, I would , I would guesstimate there's be , there'd be a lot of reasons to, to call, to dig right. To make sure that you're , uh, safe.

Harrison Waters 3:13

Yeah, I'm sure that Covid did not slow down the , uh, getting outside and , and doing some backyard projects, especially with those stimulus checks that you mentioned, Dan, for sure. Maybe if you can, Derek , go ahead and , and start off by just telling me some of the first proper steps when it comes to starting a backyard project and, and what , uh, what are the first necessary things you need to do?

Derrick Leffert 3:34

Yeah, so the first thing that , uh, everybody needs to do is to contact Missouri One call. Uh, make sure you have all the information , uh, related to what you're gonna be doing and where you're gonna be doing it at. So all your address, location , uh, what, you know, how deep you're gonna be digging, what kind of tools you're gonna be using. And then , uh, you can either call that in or you can submit it online. Uh, and submitting on online is certainly easier, but , uh, either way you , whether you call it in or you submit it online , uh, we would, we would just encourage you to do that. Take that very first step. Once you get that done, we're gonna give you a list of the utilities that are in the area, and , uh, you basically , uh, we'll provide that to you and we'll send that to you in an email address . Uh , in an email. So if you got , if you provide us with an email address, we'll send that to you . Um, and then your responsibility as an excavator doesn't matter if you're a homeowner or if you're a professional contractor, your responsibility is to, to make sure that you check off and make sure that all those utilities have responded to that locate request. So, you know, when you, when you see the, the blue marks, the water company has responded, when you see the red marks, the electric company has responded in yellow for gas. So just check those off and make sure all of 'em have responded. And , and then we would always encourage folks right before they begin their excavation to take what we call pre-ex excavation photos, which means that , um, you , you take out your , your cell phone camera or, or any other type of camera, and just take pictures of what that site looks like right before you begin your excavation. And there's a variety of different reasons to do that, but those are the , the first initial steps that we would encourage folks to take.

Harrison Waters 5:12

Yeah, that's great. You know, piggybacking off of that, you mentioned your cell phone , and I know that technology's made things a lot easier to snap those photos and, and get everything out there when it comes to checking, you know, where the lines are and all that . Has technology played a big role in how , uh, safe digging, you know, has evolved over the years?

Derrick Leffert 5:34

Uh, Dan, are you located?

Dan Ulhorn 5:36

Um, no, I have located , um, but uh , I haven't , haven't done it for a few years, but technology has definitely, definitely made things , um, I think flow better on the paperwork side of things and after the marking, but the still , um, the good old fashioned paint and locating is , is the same.

Derrick Leffert 5:54

Yeah, there's certainly been advances in, in , in, like Dan said, you know, in the , in the , in the technology realm as far as, you know , processing a locate request, at least on our end, we consistently invest in, in research and development. Uh, but beyond that, I think the, the machines that are used to actually locate the lines , uh, are, are certainly getting better, but it's never going to be an exact science because there's a variety of different things that could , uh, impact how, how accurate those locates are. So , uh, technology certainly is improving, and, you know, Missouri One Call is , is heavily invested in making sure that, that we continue to, to make it easier , uh, for folks to submit their locate requests and , uh, provide them with the tools and resources that they need. But , uh, it , it's never gonna be an exact science, unfortunately.

Harrison Waters 6:44

Right. Yeah. And so maybe for those new homeowners out there, someone who's never made these calls, maybe someone who has never, you know, taken on a backyard project , um, up to either one of you, you know , can you explain that process of how, you know, the tools that are used to locate the wires , um, or, or the underground , um, utility that we're looking for here? Can you maybe just high level explain how that, how that's done?

Derrick Leffert 7:11

Well, I've never been a locator, so I'm gonna defer to Dan on that and just kind of fill in the gaps there where

Dan Ulhorn 7:17

Sure. Um, yeah, they , the , he, he is right, right? The technology's been great, but there's, you know, back in the old days , um, I , you know, guys would take two pieces of copper and they could walk by and they call it witching, and they could find a water line, and some people really was really good at it. I still don't know how that works, but they could actually use that. But , um, a lot of times on the water side of it, they actually, they, every time they put a new line in, they put a wire in there, they can hook up to a locator and actually tone the line and get really accurate. Some of the old water lines, you're , you're not gonna , um, kind of find, it's kind of by a mapping system with electricity, we use kind of the magnetic field or the power of the wire that that produces, and we can find , um, the , um, the current going through there, and that our machines will actually pick that current up and locate it. And then we, we also have a deal where we can actually hook something onto the wire itself, and , and they call it toning . That puts a signal out there, and then we can find the , uh, the actual depth , uh, where it's at. Um, you know, Derek said before, things are, you know, not always accurate, and that's true. Um, you get into subdivisions and bigger subdivisions where you can have multiple underground , um, primary line underneath there that , um, magnetic field can kind of mess up the locator. So , um, we always, were pretty good at it, and we contracted company and our , our linemen , um, do the marking ourselves too. But , um, it's, you still gotta be careful and you can't, just because it says clear, just, you know, go at it full, full bore. You need to be careful when you're digging.

Derrick Leffert 8:56

Just to kinda add to that, I mean, so there's, there's a variety of different methods to use. Witching sticks is the less <laugh> , the less , uh, the lesser of all the evils. I think surprisingly, it , it does work for some people, and I , I've actually tried it and it actually does work, but we certainly would not recommend , uh, utilities to , to locate their facilities in that , in that manner. Yeah . Uh , you're essentially just inducing that radio frequency on whatever line you're trying to locate. And then , uh, once, once that is done, then they, they basically take their , their receiver, they've got the transmitter that induces the radio frequency, and they've got the receiver, and they go out, you'll see 'em swinging back and forth, and , uh, they're trying to basically pick up the peak of that signal is what they're trying to do. And it's, it's, you know, it varies depending on what they're trying to locate, but , uh, it , it's a very, very complex process to find something you can't see.

Harrison Waters 9:51

Yeah, I bet that's something that , um, I, I wouldn't even know where to start and, you know, we'll make sure that we clarify that witching sticks is not the recommended choice there, but I'm very familiar with that, and it , it definitely does look like , um, I , first time I saw it, I thought someone was performing a magic trick, so, yeah.

Dan Ulhorn 10:07

Yeah. We're not recommended it , but it's, it's kind of neat when you , when you say it works , but I , I definitely wouldn't, I wouldn't , uh, bet on it for sure. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,

Harrison Waters 10:17

You know, when it comes to these projects, I pr I , I would guess that a little bit of the issue is, you know, people get anxious. They, they haven't done the proper planning. They go out in the backyard , they've got the shovel out, they're ready to install that, you know , uh, in-ground pool or whatever it is, and they probably are getting ready to go. What kind of planning do they need to do, and how much time, you know, when it comes to making the ne necessary steps , um, you know, how long before they can get someone out there, is it, you know, should they expect to call a day in advance a couple days in advance when they submit that request? What's the ti you know, turnaround time for them?

Derrick Leffert 10:53

Missouri law requires that , uh, excavators, no matter what type of excavator you are , whether you're a homeowner or a professional contractor , uh, that they contact us two days plus a day that it's called in. So we always tell folks to, to give us three days advanced notice. So , uh, you know, if you wanna start a project on Saturday, the latest you're gonna contact us is gonna be on Wednesday. So utilities, again, have the two days plus the day that it's called in .

Harrison Waters 11:17

Yeah. That's great information then . No . Um, and I'm sure weather plays a big factor in that. I know I had some done in my yard for some septic work, and then all of a sudden, you know, they weren't able to come out and excavate in my yard. So then the, the postings , um, that were in place had to be redone. Uh, I know that's important. I know you're not , uh, you know, supposed to go out there and have faded , um, marks on your yard. So maybe explain how the weather plays that role or being delayed, and why, why it is so important to, to make sure you do this right.

Derrick Leffert 11:50

Well, so the , the law actually requires renewal requests when the , when the marks have become faded or diminished due to weather construction or other causes. Uh , Missouri law actually requires that , uh, any excavator submit a, a renewal request. And the reason for that is because , uh, there's, you know, when, when the , when the marks begin to fade or they become diminished, or they're, they're, they're questionable , uh, then there's, there's some additional risk associated with that. And, and so , uh, a lot of times people make the mistake. They, they , they refresh their own tickets, right? So they just grab whatever color paint they have, and they go out there and they refresh their own whatever marks were there. The problem with that is that when, when folks do that, they assume the liability if it was mismarked in the first place, and then typically, you know, usually p folks don't have multiple different , uh, colors of paint. So they go out there and maybe they, they have a , you know, a orange can of spray paint, and they use that orange can of spray paint to , uh, renew the gas marks. Well, people typically dig , uh, a lot more carefully around gas than they do around telecommunications lines. So there's that risk associated with that there as well. Yeah,

Harrison Waters 13:04

That's good. Let's go ahead and take a short break, and when we come back, Dan and Derek are gonna share some more of our digging safety tips.

Speaker 5 13:28

Are you planning to landscape or build an addition to your home? If so, be sure to get utilities located and marked before you dig. Call 8 1 1 at least three business days in advance. It's a free call and it can save you time and money while keeping you safe. Learn how to avoid underground utilities@safeelectricity.org.

Speaker 6 13:51

Visit members first dot co-op to learn more energy efficiency. Tip number 1 0 1, plant trees and shrubs to provide shade on the east, south, and west sides of your home. Evergreen trees and shrubs can provide a wind break on the north side. Visit. Take control and save dot co-op to learn more .

Harrison Waters 14:36

All right , we are back with the Power For Your Life podcast, and today I'm visiting with Dan Yoho , with Macon Electric Cooperative and Derek Leer with Missouri One Call. Guys, you've given us a lot of great information about this. Maybe, you know, let's tell people why this is such a big deal. Um, what could some of the severities be , uh, for not doing this properly?

Derrick Leffert 14:58

So , I'll just tell you that there, there has been fatalities as a result of people not using the system the way that it's supposed to be used. Uh, there has been injuries, a number of different injuries , uh, and then there's, there's fines that can be levied as a result of people not using the system the way that they're supposed to. And then also , uh, there, there could be a significant cost to repair the damages. So, you know, there was an incident back in Kansas City in 2012 where , uh, uh, an underground line was struck, an underground gas line was struck, the gas migrated into a restaurant in a very, very populated area , uh, in downtown Kansas City, blew the restaurant up and killed somebody inside that restaurant. Uh, so that's the worst case scenario. Fortunately, that doesn't happen a lot , uh, but it , it can happen and does happen. And so folks need to understand that , um, you know, once when folks get into a an underground electric line, they're gonna have a pretty bad day there too. So the gas in electric really is what can hurt you or kill you , and that's what folks need to make sure that they're, they're the most cognizant of. Uh, but beyond that, the ags office can, can find people, people aren't, aren't calling in for locate requests or utilities are not locating the lines like they're supposed to. Uh, by law, the ags office can impose a $10,000 penalty per violation on that. So, you know, there's, there's some significant financial penalties there as well. In addition to that, when you talk about getting into fiber optic telephone lines, if you haven't done what you're supposed to do under the law , uh, and you damage one of those, those underground fiber optic lines, those can be extraordinarily expensive to repair. And I , I'm talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if you're not doing what you're supposed to do. So that's just some of the penalties. I'm sure Dan's got some, some good examples of, of kind of things that he's seen as well.

Dan Ulhorn 16:49

Yeah, it's , um, it, it's kind of scary when in the rural area. I think when you go into , uh, bigger city , um, you start to see less power lines , um, in the air and , and you, you see a lot more stuff going on the ground just because the , the , you know, to make it look better in the city, and subdivisions are a big deal. They don't wanna see all the poles in the, in the air, so you kind of think more underground. But what what happens to people is, is , uh, you know, backyard or they got an open field and , um, you know, gas lines have been put in there years ago , uh, that people, you know, forget about or didn't even know about in fields and , um, in backyards and front yards , um, that's what gets people in trouble. Electrical lines and primary , um, especially is , you know, is dangerous. And it's , you know, our, our voltage here at Macon is , uh, 7,200 and , um, that, that's a very dangerous voltage, but also 110 and two 40, you know, if you got a meter pole and you got an underground going in your house or going to your shop , um, that can be just as dangerous that , that electricity, it affects people different. And , um, and a lot of people have gotten hurt. So it's, it's, you've gotta really, if you were going to dig, if you're gonna put a shovel on the ground , it doesn't hurt the technology we talked about earlier. It's so easy to call , um, and to get somebody out there and to check on that , uh, we, we've had a lot of, you know, I was thinking of an example when we was talking about earlier we had a , you know, you put the flags out, you put the paint out, we had a , a kid take the flag, so they thought that it was pretty cool and took 'em home. Now the marking's gone. So you , uh, you , you want to plan ahead and , and , and before you just do a project and take the time to say, Hey, it's gonna take three days. Um, and that way you're digging as quickly as possible after everything is marked. Uh , so those things like that don't happen. But yeah, you gotta , you gotta be careful. And electricity, like I said earlier, is very unforgiving. So , um, it doesn't hurt to make a phone call cuz it could save , uh, yourself , um, and whoever's working with you their lives.

Harrison Waters 18:58

Wow. Yeah. That's great information. So I guess one of our, the biggest takeaways for listeners here is, you know, this isn't just a recommendation. Um, you know, like Derek mentioned even before that, you know, there is some legal obligations here to avoid fines and to just do things the right way. Um, you know, from a safety perspective , um, could mean the difference of , uh, injury or, or something, you know, more severe. Um, is, is there anything that, that does not require, I know, you know, if you're digging in your flower bed , you're fine. Is there any area that's okay or any depth that's okay , uh, to be doing?

Derrick Leffert 19:38

No, that's actually a common misconception. People, people assume that if they're, if they're just, you know, using a shovel that they don't have to call, or if they're only digging a couple inches, you know, doing the flower planting or something like that, that they don't have to call, that's actually incorrect. Missouri law requires anybody, anytime they disturb the , the earth, they are required by Missouri law to contact us. Doesn't matter if you're digging two inches, two feet, doesn't matter if you're using a track , hoe, backhoe, garden, hoe , uh, the law requires you to contact Missouri one call. And the reason for that is because utilities may have been installed at whatever depth when they were initially installed, but over the course of time, erosion or landscaping, things like that can change , uh, the depth of that utility. So it's always important for people to assume that they're , that the utilities are just below the surface.

Harrison Waters 20:26

Wow, that , that's great information. Certainly something I learned, I learned right there, you know, you can't just <laugh> if you're making a flower bed , it's not , uh, you know, it's not a pass right away .

Derrick Leffert 20:36

Yeah. And we find that a lot with, you know, mailboxes. People say, well, I , you know, I'm , I'm just installing a mailbox. Well , where are you installing that mailbox? You're installing that mailbox right by the road, and where are all the buried utilities at Right by the road, you know? So , uh, that's, that's why it's so important no matter what they're doing that they, they contact us,

Harrison Waters 20:54

Maybe tell us is, are there certain depths, you know, I know we all should be concerned, like Derek just mentioned, any depth needs to be checked, huh ? Are there really common depths for all these different lines? So when people are, are , are doing, doing work that they're going to expect to see things like maybe what's, what does it look like underground? Are there certain things that are lower than others? Um, when it comes to that?

Derrick Leffert 21:18

Yeah . Dan, you wanna cover how deep your electric lines are?

Dan Ulhorn 21:21

Yeah, we , uh, we go four foot , four to five foot. Um, depends on, like he was talking about erosion or , um, if they're doing dirt work , um, well , if we know that we talk to the contractor and they might take some leveling off or something, we'll , we'll go deeper, but our, our standard is pretty much four foot , and then we'll put a two foot , um, tape inside their , uh, it's kind of an indicator that's, you know, you're digging , uh, close to our, our line. Um, but it's , uh, four foot where we start out at .

Derrick Leffert 21:51

Yeah. And then the , the other utilities, you know, are , it's varies . Typically, your telecommunication lines are buried, the , the most shallow , um, they generally take the path, at least resistance on those telephone lines. Uh, natural gas lines would probably be the next , uh, uh, most shallow. And then, you know, your water lines are gonna be below the frost line . Sewer lines are typically gonna be deeper just for, you know, the gravity feed reasons. Uh, and then electric lines are gonna be somewhere in between. So , uh, there's no legal requirement in Missouri for them to , uh, bury it at any certain depth. Uh , there are certain standards like , uh, like Dan mentioned, they've got a , you know, a four to five foot standard. I think that's probably consistent with the National Electric Safety Code. And so other, you know, other utilities certainly have recommendations that they need to follow as well, but they, they're not legally required to do those. In those times . They don't. And you know, one of the, the reasons that, that we can't impose a , uh, a statewide , um, depth is because the , the , the soil conditions are, are vastly different in southern Missouri than they are up in, you know, the , the river bottoms in northern Missouri. You know, it's, it's pretty much all rock down in the near Branson area. And , uh, you get up, you know , north east in the farmland area, you see it a lot more , uh, you know, it's a lot easier to dig up there. So that's another reason that it's, it's not required.

Harrison Waters 23:18

And do you guys get as many calls or, or issues with the , um, commercial side of things versus , uh, the residential? You know, are they having issues with digging just as much as residential or kind of, what's the mix there? When it comes to , um, the, the differences for, for dig safety,

Derrick Leffert 23:36

Probably the majority of our locate requests are from professional contractors that are doing, you know, commercial type work, like utility installations, things like that. Um, our homeowner volume accounts for a lot less. However, last year our homeowner volume, when everybody was stuck at home during covid and everybody was doing projects, our homeowner volume went up almost 25%. So , um, we, we certainly see homeowner calls and, and homeowners are oftentimes a lot less , uh, more know , a lot less knowledgeable about the one call process and what they need to be doing. So there's a , there's a real danger there with, with homeowners because they don't know exactly what they need to be doing and, and , uh, you know, there's that risk there too.

Dan Ulhorn 24:23

Yeah, we , um, our , our commercial people, they've, they , you know, they don't wanna be fine and they wanna get their guys hurt, so it's, they're usually really good at it. They kind of know the laws, but , uh, um, just to piggyback what he was saying, it , uh, homeowners, they don't know that. But I think that's what's really good with associated in kind of our , how we work at co-ops. We educate our members. I do fourth grade demonstrations and one of my , uh, deal that I do with talking with the kids is talking about 8 1 1 and , um, uh, you know, using that commercial as much as I can, and I'm surprised all the time how many teachers are like, well , they didn't know that. And so it's our job as a , as a cooperative in the state of Missouri to educate our members , um, that they can call. And I think that's getting , um, over the years, I'd say over say the last 10 years, that's really improved and pretty much everybody's is , is knows that, but , um, it's a good reminder for all of us to, we gotta educate our, educate our members the best we can so they know the facts.

Harrison Waters 25:24

Yeah. And Dan, are there any other situations where, you know, members would contact, you know, a co-op directly or, or just notify you all and it , what situations would those be if, if there are?

Dan Ulhorn 25:36

Oh yeah, there's, there's emergency. I mean, we , we'll roll a truck for, for anybody that , uh, you know, there's emergency situation. Um, they, they've maybe they , they've looked up and they've seen, hey, there's a pad mounted transformer there that , you know, they've seen one of our danger signs or, or something like that. Um, they'll , they'll call and , and we'll, we'll come out and , and help them out. Um , working with our , with our towns and digging , um, with our utilities, we'll come out and help them first, but we contract. And , um, also with some of our locates now , um, they do a really good job for us, but , uh, yeah, people can directly call the co-op and we will get 'em in the right direction and help 'em . Um, we can , you can go to our website , um, and we got a place where you can locate online for a request. So, we'll , either way , um, if it's , if it's a member of the co-op, don't hesitate to call us, we'll help you out.

Harrison Waters 26:31

Great. And, and whose responsibility is it to, to mark private lines , um, and , and to go out and do that for, for the members?

Dan Ulhorn 26:39

Oh , at , at , at Macon we can , um, we'll do that for a fee. Uh, we take care of everything , uh, to the meter. Anything under the meter , um, to the residence , um, or commercial is, is on, is on them, but we will, for a fee, we will be happy to do that.

Derrick Leffert 26:55

Yeah, and that's an important point to note here. It , you know, co-ops are really, really good about kind of helping their members out. Uh, most of the other utilities will not do that, so utilities are only required to mark what they own and operate. So let's, let's say you're , you're , um, investor owned utilities or municipal utilities, a lot of times if there's a line, you know, a private line that runs maybe from the house to a , a shed or a barn or something like that , uh, they won't, they won't take the liability of, of marking those lines. So they're just required to mark what they own and operate. And there's a , there's a misconception really all across the state that, that people assume that all in the line they're gonna be marked when in fact, that's not the case. It's just the public utility lines. So things like, you know, propane gas lines , um, like those lines that go from the house to , uh, you know, barns or sheds or pools or whatever. Uh , those, those are not going to be marked , uh, unless you specifically hire someone to do that.

Harrison Waters 27:57

Yeah, that's great information. Uh, is there anything else you guys would like to really stress to , uh, listeners today about this topic before they go into , um, some of these spring projects that they're planning?

Dan Ulhorn 28:08

I think for the co-op side of it, you can just , uh, don't hesitate to call it , it , it doesn't, it doesn't take a few minutes to, to make sure things are safe. And if something doesn't feel right or doesn't look right, then um, call us and we'll, we'll be glad to help anybody out , um, to make sure that they're, that they're taken care of and , um, that nobody gets hurt. That's, that's the end goal is , um, the financial part of it is real, but in the end , we want everybody to , um, not get hurt.

Derrick Leffert 28:37

Yeah. And I just wanna add too , that it's, it's a free service. Doesn't cost anybody to use the service to call to get their lines located. Missouri, one call just is, is, is operated much like a , uh, a cooperative is. So we are member owned , where member governed , uh, we're a nonprofit organization , uh, and it we're funded solely by the utilities. It's an insurance policy for the utilities, basically. So it doesn't cost anybody anything to use this system If , you know, if you're gonna be doing some excavation work, it's just gonna cost you a few minutes of your time. I will tell you , uh, just to kind of add on to that, it , the , the attorney general's office who has the enforcement authority over one call has gotten very, very aggressive with the enforcement of the law after that incident in Kansas City happened. And there was the fatality there , uh, the ags office took, took note of that, and they have gotten very, very aggressive with the enforcement of the law. So , uh, it's, it's not gonna cost you anything but a few minutes of your time. It's gonna save you a lot of headache, a lot of hassle, and it's gonna keep you safe. Uh, and we appreciate all that the co-ops are doing to, to help us promote safe digging practices.

Harrison Waters 29:48

Absolutely. Well, thank you both. Derek , is there a or is there a place that , uh, listeners can go to to learn a little bit more if they have any additional questions?

Derrick Leffert 29:55

Yeah, absolutely. It's www.mo one call.com. It's , uh, you know, there's a wealth of information there that, that folks can, can check out. And if they have any questions, by all means, don't hesitate to reach out to us or , uh, you know, you can certainly reach out to folks like Dan or , or any of the other co-ops throughout the state. I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions as well.

Harrison Waters 30:16

So we've been talking a lot about Missouri, but we have members that are in Iowa and Oklahoma. Is there anything else that they should take into consideration?

Derrick Leffert 30:25

Yeah, so there's a , there's a nationwide, you know , nationwide organization called the Common Ground Alliance, or you know, call eight one one.com is also a , a website resource as well. Um, there, there are places just like Missouri, one call in every state, but there are differences between the laws. So , uh, Oki eight 11 is the , uh, Oklahoma version of Missouri One Call. Uh, and then Iowa has their own version as well. There are different nuances between the states. Some of the , some of the states have a smaller tolerance zone. Some of the states have , uh, you know, they don't give utilities as much time to locate their, their facilities. So there are various different , uh, rule changes in different states . The concept's the same , uh, you know, safe excavation no matter where you're at. And actually 8 1 11 is, you know, a nationwide call before you dig number . So if you're down in the , uh, Joplin area, you know, you dial 8 1 11, it's probably gonna ask you whether or not you're looking for Oki eight 11 or if you're looking for Missouri one call. Uh, so it , you know, 8 1 11 nationwide number. Uh, but it , the concept is the same no matter what. We want folks to be safe no matter where they're at.

Harrison Waters 31:37

Great. Well, thank you both. This has been , uh, fantastic. I know I've learned a lot and , um, knowing how important it is to, you know, have the proper steps in place before you dig and, and take on those projects. So thank you both for joining me today. Anytime .

Derrick Leffert 31:51

Thanks for ,

Harrison Waters 31:52

This has been great. A lot of great tips for digging safely. So before you tackle your spring projects, you know , make sure you take the correct steps for digging safely. And that is it for today.

Speaker 7 32:03

Thanks for listening to The Power for Your Life Podcast. To learn more about this topic and other safety, efficiency and energy technology information, contact your local electric cooperative, or visit us on the web at members first dot co-op. You can also follow us on social media at facebook.com/members. First cooperatives pinterest.com/members first or instagram.com/members. First , if you have a question or topic you would like us to consider for an upcoming episode, email us at members first , a eci.org .