Call Before You Dig
New Law Creates Statewide One-Call Service 1-800-332-2344
Neglect one simple step and you could dig yourself into
deep trouble. So "call before you dig." It's the
law.
That's the message promoted by the Oregon Utility Notification
Center (OUNC), a new state agency that provides a one-call
service to contractors, excavators and homeowners to let them
know what they may encounter underground.
 The
center's aim is to prevent damage, service disruptions and
potential disaster from uncharted digging into buried service
facilities.
Callers to the center must identify project locations 48
business hours before starting work, giving exact street or
other coordinate information The center then notifies all
affected utilities which subscribe to the center of the pending
excavation. Each utility sends employees to locate underground
lines near the project with color-coded paint that identifies
what kind of utility is underground.
Failure to call and receive necessary guidance can prove messy
at the very least, disrupt essential services and may be downright
hazardous. Everyone, including homeowners, must call OUNC
when planning to dig. Neighborhoods, especially new ones,
have extensive utility lines criss-crossing under their yards.
Do-it-yourselfers
Do-it-yourselfers planting trees or setting fence posts
have been known to damage electric, telephone, gas and other
utility lines. There have been cases of electrocution and
severe injuries caused by damage to electric lines. Also loss
of service and property due to water or gas line ruptures,
or possibly worse.
Recognizing the complexity of the underground network and
its safety implications, the 1995 Oregon Legislature created
a new state agency to establish a single, statewide, non-profit
center, and reiterated the legal requirement to call before
you dig.
The new law includes fines and penalties for failure to
call before digging. Violators can also be liable for repair
costs for damage resulting from non-compliance with the law's
requirements.
The Oregon Utility Notification Center, located in Portland,
will take locate requests 24 hours/day, seven days a week.
The phone number to call before you dig is 1-800-332-2344.
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