News Release > Know what’s below – Every dig requires a call

Know what’s below – Every dig requires a call

08/11/2023

811 protects you and the community. Stay safe by knowing where utility lines are buried

NEW ORLEANS – On August 11 and throughout the year, we remind homeowners and professional contractors to use the free 811 service before digging to reduce the risk of striking an underground utility or gas line.

August 11 serves as a reminder to all people who excavate or dig to call 811 at least two full business days before digging to have the approximate location of their utility lines marked. This process helps prevent injuries, property damage and inconvenient utility outages.

The focus of August 11 is preventing serious consequences that could occur from digging without knowing what’s below the surface – not only now, but year-round. Regardless of what you plan to do, how deep you plan to dig or even if you’ve called before for a similar project, every job requires a call first.

 “Our top priority is always safety,” said Steven Benyard, Entergy’s vice president of reliability for Louisiana. “We want to remind everyone to take the extra step and call 811 before any digging project to avoid service interruptions and, most of all, personal injury or worse. Not only is it the safe thing to do, but it’s also the law.”

 The depth of underground utility lines varies and there may be multiple utility lines in one common area. The risk of striking underground utility lines exists even when digging only a few inches.

Louisiana has its own 811 call center that can help you stay safe while digging. Call center representatives can advise you on how to submit requests to learn what utilities may be buried beneath the ground, such as natural gas pipelines, electric power lines and other services.

After you make the call to 811, professional locators mark the approximate locations of underground lines at the requested digging site with flags, paint or both. Markings show the location of underground lines and help prevent undesired consequences such as injury, service disruptions or costly fines and repair costs.

If you suspect utility damage of any kind, leave the area immediately and call 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) or call 911. A gas leak could be occurring if you smell the distinctive natural gas odor, hear a hissing or whistling sound near a gas appliance or see dead vegetation or bubbles near a gas line.

For more information, visit Louisiana 8-1-1.

About Entergy Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers in 58 parishes and natural gas service to more than 94,000 customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About Entergy New Orleans
Entergy New Orleans, LLC is an electric and gas utility that serves Louisiana’s Orleans Parish. The company provides electricity to more than 209,000 customers and natural gas to more than 110,000 customers.

Both companies are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy owns and operates one of the cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 7,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, Entergy has annual revenues of $10 billion and approximately 12,000 employees.