Kentucky PSC hosts seminar on how to dig around natural gas pipelines

The Kentucky Public Service Commission (KPSC) held a seminar on Oct. 24 to teach more than 100 excavators, emergency responders, line locators, and LG&E employees the proper way to dig around underground natural gas pipelines.

Throughout the seminar, which was hosted at the Kentucky Regional Fire Training Academy in Louisville, Ky., KPSC brought in safe digging experts and provided a demonstration of the correct way to locate underground utility lines. They also showed what can go wrong when such procedures are not followed.

The KPSC governs natural gas lines and their enforcement in the state, granting them the ability to investigate and fine those who dug without first marking underground utility lines — options shared by emergency response agencies. Such marks are the law, yet since July 2018, the KPSC reports that more than 1,300 lines have been damaged from digging, resulting in more than $1 million in fines.

“In my job, I see or hear firsthand accounts of what can happen when someone digs without having the underground lines marked first,” Lisa Clifton, LG&E public awareness coordinator, said. “It can be anything from a minor inconvenience – such as a service interruption – to widespread damage, injuries, and even death. Regardless of the magnitude of the incident, there can be an investigation and fine if the excavator did not abide by the law.”

The KPSC demonstration involved an excavator accidentally damaging a fake natural gas line. An emergency response followed, with firefighters, LG&E representatives, and paramedics dispatched to the scene as the excavator was injured and a plume of steam blew from the ground simulating a natural gas escape.