Damage Prevention & Safety
Common Ground Alliance releases utility-mapping case study to reduce underground utility damage
The case study introduces the ambitious Minnesota Utilities Mapping Project (MUMP), which aims to provide real-time, ticket-level mapped visualizations of underground utilities to accredited designers, locators and excavators to improve the damage prevention system’s efficiency and outcomes.
Ruptured sewer pipe leads to 300,000-gallon sewage spill in Annapolis
(UI) — An incident involving a damaged sewer pipe has resulted in the release of around 300,000 gallons of sewage into a neighborhood in Annapolis, Maryland.
127-year-old water main gives way under NYC’s Times Square, flooding streets, subways
A 127-year-old water main under New York’s Times Square gave way early Tuesday, flooding midtown streets and the city’s busiest subway station.
PG&E initiates underground power line placement in Magalia, Calif.
(UI) — In Magalia, a significant transformation is underway as power lines are being placed underground. While the current cost of burying power lines is approximately $3.75 million per mile, PG&E anticipates a reduction to about $2.8 million per mile by 2026. The utility company asserts that despite the expense, the advantages of underground lines in high fire-risk areas are abundant.
United Rentals: Preventive fleet maintenance critical to operational efficiency
United Rentals, Inc. outlined how preventive maintenance and inspection programs can help construction and industrial companies garner maximum value from their equipment fleets.
Houston and San Antonio face sewer, water struggles amid central US deadly heat wave
Deadly heat has gripped Texas for much of the summer and has now spread into other parts of the central U.S., where it is expected to persist for days. Triple-digit temperatures are buckling roads, straining water systems, and posing a threat to the power grid of the nation’s energy capital.
Federal regulators propose rule changes after 2018 gas distribution pipeline blasts in Massachusetts
These proposed changes are designed to improve safety and ease risk through the improvement of emergency response plans, integrity management plans, operation manuals and other steps, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Xcel Energy building underground barrier to contain radioactive water in Minnesota
The energy company responsible for leaking radioactive material from its nuclear plant in Monticello, Minnesota, in recent months has announced that it will build an underground metal barrier to keep affected groundwater away from the nearby Mississippi River.
Sewer line repair leads to 10,000-gallon wastewater spill in Florida’s Riviera Bay
(UI) — In Pinellas County, Florida, the municipality of St. Petersburg has reported an incident involving the discharge of around 10,000 gallons of wastewater into Riviera Bay while addressing a rupture in a sewer line.
Underground gas leak unlikely cause of fatal Pennsylvania house blast
It is unlikely that natural gas seeped from an abandoned underground mine and caused a house explosion in western Pennsylvania last weekend that killed six people, state officials said Friday.
Maui water deemed unsafe post-fire, filters ineffective in addressing contamination
The Maui fires damaged hundreds of drinking water pipes, resulting in a loss of pressure that can allow toxic chemicals along with metals and bacteria into water lines.
Common Ground Alliance opens Call for Proposals for underground utilities conference
The 2024 CGA Conference & Expo, set to take place April 14-18, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo., is the damage prevention industry’s premier event, bringing together distinguished experts and decision-makers for a week of focused collaboration and innovation designed to address the industry’s most pressing challenges.
California company fined $5 million for illegally dumping wastewater in Mississippi
View Inc., a firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, previously pleaded guilty to negligently discharging wastewater into a city sewer system from the company’s sole manufacturing facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
Three people found dead in Texas underground tank, sewer gas suspected as cause
On Thursday, a Texas sheriff reported that the underground tank had a "high level" of hydrogen sulfide when announcing that three individuals from Florida died in the cistern filled with sewer gas.
Utilities reduce underground infrastructure damage by promoting National 811 Day
Friday, Aug. 11, is recognized as National 811 Day, to raise awareness of the importance of making a free call to 811 before any digging project, large or small.
Editor’s Log: Priceless - Safety and damage prevention
(UI) — After attending and helping produce countless trade shows, workshops and related educational functions over the decades, I’ve learned that many of the best sessions were not the most popular sessions – not by a long shot. It’s not always what you want to hear, but what you need to know that has the most impact on your business or job.
6 days after fuel spill reported, most in Tennessee city still can’t drink the tap water
Many of the 40,000 people who live and work in the Memphis suburb of Germantown remained under an order Wednesday to avoid using water for everything except flushing toilets. They can't drink or boil tap water, or use it for showering or bathing.
Residents of Tennessee city ordered to avoid using tap water after fuel spill
Residents of a Tennessee city must keep avoiding using their tap water after diesel fuel being used to power a generator at a treatment plant leaked into a reservoir, officials said Friday.
Arlington, Texas, adopts advanced solutions for detecting buried lead service lines and water leaks
(UI) — The Arlington Water Utilities in Texas have selected Electro Scan Inc. to deploy its non-acoustic SWORDFISH Buried Lead Pipe Detection solution and TRIDENT Pressurized Leak Detection solution across the city.
Federal investigators find leaking natural gas pipe fitting at site of Pa. factory explosion that killed seven
The older fitting had a known tendency to crack, and it was added to a federal government list of pipe materials with “poor performance histories” in 2007, the safety board said. But it was left in place during utility work two years ago and remained connected to the natural gas system.
Mountain Valley urges US Supreme Court to lift stays and resume pipeline construction
(UI) — Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC has submitted a request to the U.S. Supreme Court to lift stays issued by a federal court that had stopped work on a section of its West Virginia-to-Virginia natural gas pipeline.
Recent underground power line explosions in San Francisco raise concerns, safety assurances remain
(UI) — A San Francisco neighborhood has experienced significant problems as a result of an underground explosion and subsequent fire for at least the second time in less than three months.
Residents in Burlington, Vt., urged to conserve water after sewer pipe ruptures
(UI) — As crews get ready to mend a damaged pipe in the Winooski River, the city of Burlington is advising homeowners in a significant portion of the New North End to decrease the amount of water and garbage they discharge into the sewage system.
United Rentals outlines how hybrid power solutions create efficient, sustainable worksites
United Rentals released a white paper, “Hybrid Power Solutions: The Future of Portable Power,” that explores strategies for pairing a BESS with a power generator.
Cities prioritize water main replacement, neglecting buried lead pipes
Around the country, utilities have been leaving lead pipe in the ground even when it is easiest to remove during water main work. Worse, they have been removing sections, disturbing the pipe and leaving the rest, which can spike lead levels, causing harm that will last a lifetime, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.
Flint contractor agrees to settlement of lead contamination lawsuits
Flint families sued LAN and another contractor, Veolia North America, accusing them of not doing enough to get Flint to treat highly corrosive water or to urge a return to a regional water supplier.
OSHA cites Chicago company for 2022 trench collapse that killed one worker
Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors determined the employer, Rooter Solutions Inc. of Burr Ridge, failed to install cave-in protection in the trench and did not require head protection, the agency announced Friday.
Sewer main failure causes water contamination in Georgia’s One-Mile Branch Creek
(UI) — The Utilities Department was able to detect a failure in an eight-inch sanitary sewage main after a thorough investigation and video inspections.
The water in Mississippi’s capital is safe to drink, city officials say
Jackson has struggled with water problems for decades. Most of the city lost running water for several days in August and September after heavy rainfall exacerbated problems at the city’s main water treatment plant.
Missouri's Dogtown sinkhole traced to collapsed sewer pipe, not water main break
(UI) — The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has determined that the large sinkhole in Dogtown was not caused by a water main break, as previously believed, but rather by a collapsed sewer pipe.
- North America 2024 Pipeline Construction Outlook: New LNG Terminals Lead Call for More Pipelines
- DeLa Express seeks FERC approval for Permian-to-Louisiana gas pipeline project
- OSHA penalizes Houston contractor over safety violations resulting in worker's death
- Fiber infrastructure has no known expiration date, Fiber Broadband Association research concludes
- Nevada OSHA fines Elon Musk's Boring Company over safety violations in Vegas tunnel project
- Michigan lawmakers introduce bills to create septic codes throughout the state
- Indiana American Water to gain 8,000 water customers with Silver Creek Water acquisition
- New York State OKs $57.8 million underground transmission line linking Nanuet to West Nyack
- Arkansas governor allocates $42 million for water infrastructure projects
- Federal judge finds Flint, Mich, in contempt over lead water pipe crisis