April is Dig Safe Month, and The Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance is stressing the importance of calling before you break ground.
Local Co-Chair Jay Moore says the initiative is done in collaboration with industry, public utilities, and contractors.
He says the goal is to prevent damage to underground infrastructure.
"Pipelines, hydro cables, fibre-optic cables, you hit one of those services, you could take out a whole town or city. Miles and miles of people are impacted by an outage."
Moore says we haven't seen many incidents locally, adding area companies and contractors are always extremely careful given the proximity to chemical valley.
Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey was instrumental in having Bill eight passed which, among other things, requires that "all utilities owners must belong to Ontario One Call".
Notification is needed at least five business days before breaking ground.
You can call 1-800-400-2255 to have your underground utilities marked.
