PEORIA, Ill. – Spring means outdoor projects around the house can get underway, but a local utility wants people to be safe while doing it.
Ameren is encouraging people to call 811 to locate underground pipes and lines that may be on their property before starting projects.
Ameren’s Jake Dukett says it’s not just for projects where you have to dig into the ground.
“What we’ve seen a lot of this year is driving pins and driving stakes into the ground,” Dukett said. “So if you’re doing any type of concrete work, they drive concrete pins to hold the forms up. And we’ve actually had several incidents where those concrete pins have punctured the gas main. Same thing if you’re driving a stake into the ground to hold a bird feeder up.”
Some of those utility lines could be as shallow as a foot into the ground.
Shaun Levi is a locate technician with Tazewell County. He says knowing what is underground is important, such as a gas line, in order to prevent a potential disaster.
“If you get an ignition, it’s going to blow,” Levi says.
Levi says same things can happen with electrical and natural gas line. And adds that communication can be cut with fiber internet lines.
