Aug. 11 (8/11) Serves As Convenient Reminder For Georgia Residents To Always Call 811 Before Digging

Georgia Natural Gas® encourages people to make a free call 48 hours before digging to know what's below

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Aug 10, 2018, 16:12 ET

ATLANTA, Aug. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With Aug. 11 almost here, Georgia Natural Gas hopes this date on the calendar, 8/11, will serve as a natural reminder for residents to call 811 before any digging project to have underground utility lines marked. Every hour, more than six damages to buried utilities occur because someone decided to dig without first calling 811.

When calling 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to Georgia 811, the local one call center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators are then sent to the requested digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, spray paint or both.

Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, fines and inconvenient outages. Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants a call to 811. Installing a mailbox, building a deck, planting a tree and laying a patio are all examples of digging projects that need a call to 811 before starting.

"On Aug. 11 and throughout the year, we remind homeowners and professional contractors alike to call 811 before digging to eliminate the risk of striking an underground utility line," said Mike Braswell, president of Georgia Natural Gas, "It really is the only way to know which utilities are buried in your area."

The depth of utility lines can vary for various reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.

Visit www.call811.com for more information about 811 and safe digging practices.

About Georgia Natural Gas
Georgia Natural Gas is part of SouthStar Energy Services®. SouthStar is owned by Southern Company Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO). SouthStar also operates in Ohio as Ohio Natural Gas®, in Florida as Florida Natural Gas®, in Maryland as Maryland Energy®, in Michigan as Grand Rapids Energy®, in New York as New York Natural Gas^SM, in New Jersey as New Jersey Energy®, and in other parts of the Southeast as SouthStar Energy Services. SouthStar's subsidiaries in Illinois operate under the brands Illinois Energy® and Illinois Energy Solutions®. For more information, visit: www.gng.com.