GROUNDBREAKING SAFETY: With all the pipeline in the ground beneath us, states want people to check before they dig.

• Author: Shea, Daniel
• Position: ENERGY

Imagine stretching pipeline between Honolulu and Boston. You'd have to go back and forth 500 times to equal the amount of pipeline running underground in the United States. Pipelines deliver the natural gas and petroleum products that help fuel homes, cars, power plants--just about everything that helps drive the economy. Unseen, yet ubiquitous, they're easily overlooked and at risk of being damaged during digging projects, posing risks to people and property.

It is a testament to the efforts made over the past two decades by states and the federal government that, despite natural gas consumption growing nearly 20 percent since 2005, the number of major pipeline accidents has consistently dropped, from 120,000 in 2005 to fewer than 86,000 in 2016. In fact, major damage to pipelines caused by excavation has decreased by about 30 percent during that time.

Still, there is work to do. Those 86,000 leaks caused 40 deaths and more than $322 million in property damages, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Call Before You Dig

Every state has what's known as a one-call law. The laws vary but, generally, are intended to get people who want to dig (homeowners, construction companies) talking to the people who operate underground infrastructure (utilities, telecommunications companies, water districts). This is usually accomplished through one-call centers, which can be reached by dialing 811. Homeowners and contractors --known collectively as "excavators"--are required to call their local 811 center to request that pipeline or other operators mark all infrastructure at a project site.

If this sounds simple in theory, developing the right technical and communications protocols and conducting outreach on how to use 811 can be complex in practice. The effort has been shown to pay off, however. The Common Ground Alliance, a national organization that tracks accidents and advocates for the prevention of pipeline damage by excavators, found that when a person calls 811 before digging, the likelihood of damage to underground infrastructure is less than 1 percent.

At least 11 states Alabama, Arkansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee--have revised their one-call laws since 2010, and a few others, like Colorado, Indiana and Kansas, did so earlier.

During the 2017 legislative session, North Dakota and Pennsylvania...