Natural Gas Safety Awareness Day is April 7

MLGW Teams Up with Local Lowe’s Stores for Spring Gas Safety Awareness Campaign

It’s tempting to break ground in your eagerness to start an outdoor project like building a fence, planting a tree, building a deck or adding a room. But do you know what lies underground where you plan to dig? Do you call 811 to have your utility lines marked before you dig? Do you know what to do if you have a natural gas leak in your home, school or business? Do you know what a gas transmission pipeline marker looks like?

Memphis Light, Gas and Water will team up with Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores in Memphis and Shelby County to answer those questions for you on MLGW’s Natural Gas Safety Awareness Day on Friday, April 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Division’s Gas Engineering employees and volunteers will be on hand to promote and talk to customers about “Call 811 Before You Dig,” gas leak recognition and response, and natural gas safety awareness. The natural gas safety day is part of National Safe Digging Month observed across the country and in Tennessee in April.

Natural gas safety and Call 811 Before You Dig are especially relevant in the springtime. That’s when many homeowners and contractors begin spring digging, excavating, landscaping and gardening, as well as home and business construction projects. Natural gas safety is very important in light of recent natural gas explosions like the house blown apart in New Jersey in February 2015 and several other incidents around the country. There will also be information available to Lowe’s visitors about Tennessee One Call, the national 811 safe digging hotline, and the “Call 811 Before You Dig” law and free utility line locating service.

MLGW volunteers will staff display tables at several Lowe’s locations to provide free Call 811 key rings, information and brochures on natural gas safety, Call 811 Before You Dig, gas leak awareness and response, gas pipeline safety and answer questions. Some topics covered include:

• Call 811 Before You Dig
• Damage prevention awareness
• Call 811 requirements for pipelines and/or home or business excavations
• What do to in the event of a natural gas leak in a home or business
• How to recognize a gas pipeline leak
• How to recognize transmission pipeline markers

• Pipeline purpose and reliability
• Awareness of hazards and accident prevention measures
• Transmission pipeline awareness, rights of way and pipeline markers

Below is a list of participating Lowe’s locations:

• 430 Germantown Parkway, Cordova, TN
• 585 N. Perkins Road, Memphis, TN
• 8490 Highway 51 North, Millington, TN
• 8300 Highway 64, Bartlett, TN
• 425 New Byhalia Road, Collierville, TN
• 7895 Winchester Road, Memphis, TN

More natural gas safety information can be found on MLGW’s website at www.mlgw.com. For more information about Tennessee One Call/Call 811, visit www.tennessee811.com.