Northern Natural Gas Jan 07, 2022

Home Browse Search

• Northern Natural Gas North Branch Team •VA1 ! C�;� 6579 420'"Street • Harris,MN 55032 - ' • ` 402-530-4488 Telephone erkshire Hathaway Ertary�� 651-674-1959 Fax 1A to o�nty so, Northern Natural Gas 9�� wool + c Education and Damage Prevention Program Ura se To: Public Officials, Emergency Responders, and School Officials Northern Natural Gas is an interstate pipeline that serves the local gas utility company in your area. Northern Natural gas is a high pressure transmission company only, not a distribution company. Our company is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and operated locally from North Branch, Minnesota. Our company periodically contacts public officials and emergency responders throughout the area in which it operates. These contacts ensure that public entities remain aware of Northern Natural Gas facilities in their area and have contact numbers to reach Northern Natural Gas personnel. We also discuss how public safety departments and Northern Natural Gas employees would work together to respond to a pipeline-related emergency. Northern Natural Gas has a written damage prevention program which exceeds all state and federal requirements. We sponsor and attend local damage prevention seminars in Minnesota and Wisconsin. A portion of these are for emergency first responders, but most meetings are aimed at educating excavation contractors on how to dig safely. We utilize the Diggers Hotline and the Gopher State One Call line locating network systems. Northern Natural Gas also, drives, walks, and does aerial patrols of its pipeline right-of- ways every year as regulated by the Federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Department and Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety. Northern Natural Gas marks the location of its pipelines with yellow signs and/or three sided plastic pipeline markers with, "Caution Natural Gas Pipeline" printed on them. Also listed is the phone number (1-888-367-6671) for our Operations Communications Center in Omaha,Nebraska which is staffed by operators 24 hours every day. To avoid damaging a pipeline, excavation should only occur after a pipeline has been physically located by a Northern Natural Gas representative. When excavation activity is planned in the vicinity of a natural gas pipeline, the following steps need to be followed: 1. Call the state one-call organization 48 hours before any excavation activity to arrange for a Northern Natural Gas representative to provide free pipeline location service and on-site assistance. 2. Never excavate within 25 feet of a pipeline without a Northern Natural Gas representative present. 3. Prior to excavation near the pipeline, consult the on-site representative for distance requirements. 4. Look for evidence of a pipeline including such things as caution signs, aerial patrol markers, casing vents and above ground pipeline appurtenances. 5. Any excavation within 24-inches of a pipeline shall be by manual means or hydro- vac.