“I’ve lived in this house my entire life and never knew we had underground lines”
I heard this from a lifelong Cincinnati resident who was left apologetic and nervous after her home-improvement project turned into an emergency. She struck and punctured a natural gas line while digging a small hole to plant a tree in her backyard, something she’s done several times in the past decade.
In a nearby neighborhood, a construction crew started an excavation project to install new water lines. After an hour of digging, they hit a natural gas line, forcing nearby homes to evacuate for several hours.
In both cases, I was the Duke Energy natural gas worker arriving first on the scene to assess the damage, call in additional Duke Energy crews and first responders, and start making the area safe. In both cases, nobody called 811 prior to digging.

Duke Energy responds to thousands of natural gas emergencies every year caused by digging and excavating projects. It is important our customers know that many of these incidents are avoidable with a free call to 811 at least 48 business hours before digging begins. When you pick up the phone and dial 811, local utilities send a crew to mark underground lines in the area (electric, natural gas, water, sewer, phone, cable TV and others) with above-ground stakes, flags or paint, which indicates restricted areas before a customer begins a digging project.
August 11 is National Safe Digging Day, recognizing the importance of marking underground utility lines.
Please join me in helping make our homes and neighborhoods safer by calling 811 every time you pick up a shovel to dig.
Michael Tholen is an employee of Duke Energy