This week’s Pipeliners Podcast episode features Sarah Magruder Lyle going over 8/11 Day and its importance. Sarah discusses different tools and resources available such as DIRT and DPAC to aid in proper digging practices.

811 Day Show Notes, Links, and Insider Terms

• Sarah K. Magruder Lyle is President & CEO of the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). Connect on LinkedIn.
  • Common Ground Alliance (CGA) is a member-driven organization dedicated to preventing damage to underground utility infrastructure and protecting those who live and work near these important assets through the shared responsibility of its stakeholders.  
• 811 (Contact Before You Dig) is the federally designated contact-before-you-dig number, designed to make the notification step of the safe excavation process as easy as possible. A person is required to contact 811 at least a few days before beginning any excavation or digging projects to allow time for locators to mark the approximate location of any buried infrastructure before excavation begins. Prior to the implementation of 811, people who dug had to know one call center’s 800 numbers, or notify utilities individually.
• PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) is responsible for providing pipeline safety oversight through regulatory rulemaking, NTSB recommendations, and other important functions to protect people and the environment through the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials.
• The Damage Prevention Institute (DPI) is CGA’s newest arm, which creates an innovative opportunity for the industry to address systemic inefficiencies in the damage prevention process through a metrics-focused, peer-reviewed model of shared accountability that serves all stakeholders.
• CGA’s Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) is a data repository that collects critical information about underground damage and near-miss reports. DIRT data is used to produce targeted recommendations to damage prevention stakeholders about how to best protect buried facilities.
• 50-in0-5 initiative is focused on reducing damages by 50 percent over five years.
• The Damage Prevention Action Center, also led by Sarah Magruder Lyle but an organization that is independent of CGA, is a newly launched nonprofit advocateing for public policies and industry practices that protect our Nation’s critical underground utility infrastructure and those who work and live near these important assets.
• The 25th annual CGA Conference and Expo will take place in Orlando, Florida from April 7th-10th, 2025.

811 Day Full Episode Transcript

Russel Treat: Welcome to the “Pipeliners Podcast,” episode 348, sponsored by Solarcraft, providing high quality engineered solutions for powering, sheltering, and operating critical field automation infrastructure. Find out more about Solarcraft at Solarcraft.net.

Announcer: The Pipeliners Podcast, where professionals, bubba geeks, and industry insiders share their knowledge and experience about technology, projects, and pipeline operations. Now, your host, Russel Treat.

Russel: Thanks for listening to the podcast. I appreciate you taking the time, and to show the appreciation, we give away a customized YETI tumbler to one listener every episode. This week, our winner is Orlando Muñiz with the Jicarilla Apache Oil and Gas Administration. Congratulations, Orlando. Your YETI is on its way. To learn how you can win this prize, stick around till the end of the episode.

This week, we talk with Sarah Magruder Lyle of the Common Ground Alliance about 811 Day, their recent DIRT report, and the Damage Prevention Action Center. Sarah, welcome back to the Pipeliners Podcast.

Sarah Magruder Lyle: Thanks so much, Russel. Good to see you.

Russel: Good to see you again. I feel that we haven’t talked in forever because the last couple of times I went to the trade show, I didn’t run into you and we didn’t catch up. Good to have you back.

Sarah: Great. Thanks so much. There were definitely more people that I didn’t get to see this time given the size of our conference. It was another record breaking year, almost 1,450 people.

Russel: That’s awesome. That’s happening all over the industry, and that’s a good thing. We’re getting back to leaning into issues and stuff. Look, I brought you in because I wanted to talk to you about 811 Day. It’s soon going to be August 11th, and August 11th is a big day for the Common Ground Alliance. Tell us a little bit about what it is, why it is, and what y’all have planned for 811.

Sarah: Certainly, 8/11 Day is very important to us and our members at CGA because our focus is to protect our critical underground infrastructure and protect those who live and work near these assets. 8/11 Day is a great day to remind everyone to call 811 prior to digging, and it’s a great opportunity to get more of a grassroots effort out there.

We focus a lot on professional excavators and professional contractors. 8/11 Day is also a great day to remind homeowners and those weekend warriors who may be doing projects that they too need to call 811, so they can protect themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods.

Russel: I’ll tell you a personal story. You’ll really appreciate this. My nephew, who’s about 15 years old, and his buddy, after the big blow came through in Houston, they started running around and helping people put their fences back up.

He’s telling me about how it went and how good they did and the money they made. I’m like, “Did you call 811?” He goes, “What’s 811?” I’m like, “Oh, my gosh.” I feel really bad about this. I’m like, “You are legally required to call 811 and locate,” and then I started telling him about what could happen if something went wrong.

It was an eye opening experience for him. I wanted to say that I am attempting to evangelize. I don’t know my efficacy, but I am attempting to evangelize.

Sarah: Back to that point of those who work in commercial, professional spaces, they know that they’re supposed to call. There’s a different set of issues about why they may not.

The homeowner and those like your nephew need to be reminded that they too are impacted by this, and that is also part of the reason that we have just released some new video and radio PSAs that are supporting safe digging that are more focused on, like I said, the community side of it.

We have a Be A Good Neighbor series. Nobody wants to be the person that knocks out the Internet to their entire neighborhood or water or gas. We did an update of our Day In The Dark PSAs to help remind people that, yes, homeowners, this impacts you too and you know what you need to do before you put a shovel in the ground and that includes calling 811.

Russel: After we get off of this recording, I’m going to go on the website and grab some of those PSAs and text him over to my nephew.

Sarah: Yes, please do.

Russel: I’m doing my part. What events do you guys have planned for 811? I know you guys do some interesting things and it’s a big day for Common Ground Alliance. What are the things you have planned event wise?

Sarah: It is, and there will be events across the country happening here in the Washington, DC area. We are working with PHMSA at Nats Park on August 8th to highlight 8/11 Day. Josh Williams, who’s a NASCAR driver, will be throwing out the first pitch. Somebody from PHMSA will be calling the playball, and I will be there as well.

Then we will also have some other events going on across the country. Major League Baseball is a big part of this since August is right in the middle of the season and we have several pipeline operators that will be supporting these efforts.

The Colorado Rockies and the New York Mets play on 8/7, and you’ll see lots of 811 on the screens there, along with the Kansas City Royals versus the St. Louis Cardinals on 8/10.

The Twins are playing the Cleveland Guardians on August 11th, and the Rockies are playing the Braves on the 11th, too. You’ll see all kinds of 811 commercials, visuals on the screens during the game. It’s a great opportunity to remind everyone to call 811.

Russel: I ran into Phil Salter at API, and I shamed him a bit because, last year, I didn’t get the Phillips 66 811 socks. I’m hopeful that I get the 2024 811 socks from Phillips 66 this year.

Sarah: Yes, they are very good about providing footwear that includes the 811 logo.

Russel: I always get those socks and make pictures and put it out on LinkedIn. Again, trying to do my part.

Sarah: There will also be other grassroots events happening across the country that a lot of the one call centers will set up in their communities to help get the word out as well.

Russel: That’s the point I was trying to make in that whole conversation. It’s part of what we do, is we’re trying to make sure that people who don’t know about 811 are learning about it because it is super important. I want to talk to you about the DIRT report. You just published your new DIRT report in May. I had a chance to scan it before we got onto record here.

I had one big takeaway, and that was two thirds of the issues related to damage, the root causes are related to mislocates and dig procedures, or dig training, maybe is a better way to say that. Both of those are things that industry can resolve. I found that pretty compelling. It’s like the next big lift is within our ability. What is CGA got going on to address the findings in the ’24 DIRT report?

Sarah: Russel, a startling fact is this. 56 percent of the time, an excavator cannot legally start work on a job site due to late or no locates. 56 percent of the time, it is a huge number. We really have to start thinking about what is causing that, why that is happening.

When we talk about what’s in the DIRT report, you take that number with the top six root causes which cause 76 percent of all the damages. If we could address a few of those top six, we would make a huge impact.

Those top six, the impact they have on the number of damages far exceeds the other 19 root causes captured in the DIRT tool, which means we have a very clear path to significantly reducing damages. However, that means we have to focus on those.

The DIRT report, that is going to be coming out soon, will actually focus on what can we do to push 50-in-5 forward. How are we actually going to make an impact in reducing these numbers? We will be introducing a DIRT index so that we will be able to compare apples to apples over the next five years.

The goal is for it to help us understand in a more in depth way, the impact of the work we’re doing and the impact of our initiatives on reducing damages by 50 percent in five years.

Russel: Good. You threw the 50-in-5 in there. We didn’t unpack it for people that may be not familiar with what that initiative is. Can you elaborate a little bit on what the 50-in-5 initiative is?

Sarah: I can. The DIRT report has shown us over the past several years that damages have either been flat or slightly increasing. While we have been doing a lot of work and a lot of work on education and awareness, we haven’t really seen a drastic decrease in damages.

The CGA Board came to me last year and said, “We want to challenge the industry. We want to plant a flag. We want to set an aspirational goal. We want to focus on reducing damages by 50 percent in the next five years.”

What was very interesting about that is the industry embraced it. It has taken on a life of its own. It has been a focus of conversations, and we’ve gone from, “Wow, that’s really aspirational,” to “You know what? We actually can do this. We have six root causes that we need to address that DIRT shows us are causing the vast majority of damages. If we can address those, we can actually do this.”

It’s been very interesting to see how the industry’s perspective on this has changed.

Russel: That’s awesome for people that have not done strategic planning or maybe don’t understand why it’s so important. One of the things I often say is, to really make a difference, to really make an impact, you need focused intensity in a big problem, and damage prevention is a big problem. It affects a lot of people, there’s a lot of stakeholders, all of that.

Getting focus is often the hardest part because you know what to focus on. One of the things that you guys have done really well at CGA through the DIRT report and the research and the data collection you’ve been doing for years now has gotten that focus, and that’s a big deal. That’s actually a harder problem than actually fixing it.

Sarah: You know what’s interesting about that, Russel, is we have really advocated that our 16 stakeholder groups can’t think about themselves as just their own industry when we’re talking about damage prevention.

If we don’t think of ourselves as a damage prevention industry, then it doesn’t work because every action or action not taken by a stakeholder impacts the entire damage prevention process. We have to start thinking about the entire process, not just the front end, or what happens when there’s an incident, but how did we get there?

Russel: You got to look at the system holistically.

Sarah: Correct. We have focused on those top six root causes, those top six issues that caused 76 percent of the damages for the past few years. What we really want to pivot to is what are those solutions? One of those solutions is: All roads lead to mapping. Mapping is going to be key to reducing damages.

You would never put anyone else out on a job and withhold data that you know you have that would be helpful to them. Part of the challenge is we have to provide access to good mapping data. Now, a lot of industries are doing catch up. They’re now starting to map, but that doesn’t mean that just because we haven’t done it before, we shouldn’t start doing it now.

At some point, we want to say, yes, everything we put in the ground now, we want to make sure we can find through GIS.

We want to make sure that we’re giving locators the best information that we can so that they can locate accurately, and they can do it in a timely manner, and it increases their efficiency, which then increases the timeliness and efficiency of the excavator, which then, in turn, gives the operator who is hired, a better ROI because their jobs get done on time and there aren’t incidents.

All roads lead to mapping, but they also lead back to the operator. What the operator facility owner does when they start this process is key to how things turn out. Are they willing to invest in safety? Are they willing to invest in making sure that the lifecycle of the project is a good one?

You can’t say, “Well, we want in procurement to have the lowest bid,” because the lowest bid may look like you’re saving money upfront, but that certainly doesn’t mean that you’re saving money across the life of the project. We have to start thinking the life of the project. It’s an investment.

Russel: You’re building a capability. You’re not executing a project. That’s different. One of the other things we talked about briefly for you on the microphone is the content series that you guys are working on. Can you tell us a little bit about that, please?

Sarah: We’re working on producing a series that shows the, ‘yes, we can’ attitude for mapping. If you ask other professionals in this industry too, there has been an evolution about the attitude of mapping.

A lot of, what I like to call, the legacy perspectives, we’ve started to get rid of. There’s the security issue. It’s not that you can go find pipelines on Google Maps now. This idea that there’s national security issues is not really accurate given the data that’s out there now on our infrastructure.

What we want to do is highlight people who say, “Yes, there may be some challenges, but it’s not going to stop us from moving forward and making the industry better.”

Certainly, people like Shawn Lyon with MPLX, who spoke at our conference this year about the Journey To Yes. How did he make their mapping initiative at Marathon successful? Now, it was for a slightly different reason, which was to provide access to the communities in which they operate, so they knew what was there, and it was to build trust.

It’s also the same with mapping so that locators have trust in what they’re doing and that they’re doing a good job and that the excavators trust that the locates are good, and that they can do their job. That access to information provides a whole new level of productivity and efficiency. Those are the initiatives we want to highlight that are coming from different companies within our industry.

Russel: I’m going to play this back in terms of what I hear you saying, and to take away. As I’m listening to you talk about mapping and locating and how timely locates is a big issue and how mislocates is a big issue, I think of Google Maps.

I wonder why is it that we can’t give every operator and every excavator an app on their phone that shows them where the pipes are underground. The issue is the technology is there, but the capability in the industry and the legacy of what’s not been well located is a challenge.

Sarah: The technology is absolutely there, and some industries have better maps than others, some because they’re regulated and they have to. There’s going to be a legacy challenge for a long time. We can’t ask people to go unearth every piece of infrastructure in the ground and put it on a map, but map it as we find it might be a better philosophy there.

However, it is possible, and we have case studies from various parts of the country, through one call centers, through companies, that it can be done if leadership is willing to say, “Yes, we’re going to do this.”

Russel: Absolutely. I wish you could see the look on Sarah’s face as she says this. This is an audio podcast, but there’s a level of commitment and intentionality in the bearing that Sarah is carrying as she’s having this conversation that needs to be understood in this conversation.

Sarah: No screenshots, Russel. No screenshots.

Russel: No, I’m not doing that. Moving along, one of the other things that you guys are doing is you’re supporting the establishment of a Damage Prevention Action Center. Can you tell me about that? What it is, how it was created, and what’s the purpose?

Sarah: Absolutely. When the CGA Board came to me and said they wanted to do this 50 and 5 initiative, I said, “Well, people who belong to the Common Ground Alliance have already shown that they are concerned about damages, and they are committed to reducing damages, and they understand the issue.”

The challenge was we can keep talking to each other, but the numbers are not going to move. We’re going to stay in the plateau. We’re going to stay in the slightly increasing, and certainly, with the money that is flowing from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, I would expect to see an increase in damages over the next few years.

However, if we want to make a serious dent in those damage numbers, then we have to start talking to those that actually make the rules. The board and the leadership in the damage prevention industry decided that there should be an entity that educates and advocates with elected officials and policymakers about the importance of damage prevention.

That is the goal of the Damage Prevention Action Center, to advocate for sound policies that help reduce damages. There are some very fundamental tenets that need to be identified and resolved in some states, and some states are doing great work pushing their damage prevention laws, at least getting them up to date. Some other states have some other issues.

We want to support our one call center and our members who are trying to make those positive changes at the state level. The one thing, and I’m sure we’ve talked about this before, Russel, but the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, there is no allotment in there anywhere for damage prevention.

We’re talking about doling out all this money to put out infrastructure, to update infrastructure, and put new infrastructure in and take broadband across America, and there was no line item there for damage prevention.

Russel: Interesting. I’m going to have to ponder that. It’s a little shocking, actually, that that’s not in there.

Sarah: The challenge is that we have to be honest about what we’re looking at. Yes, I like it when all of our industry partners talk about the damage prevention industry as a single industry. If given the choice of using your ability to fight a really bad permitting war, or something about damage prevention when you’re on the hill or at the state house, probably you’re going to go after the one that impacts your business most immediately . That’s just an example.

There’s never been an entity that is solely focused on damage prevention. That’s what the Damage Prevention Action Center is focused on. We have some great leaders from across the damage prevention industry that are helping us out, and I’m also the executive director of the Damage Prevention Action Center.

Russel: In your free time.

Sarah: In all of my free time, yes. All of my free time. Jerrod Henschel, who is now with Mears Broadband, is our chairman. We’re very excited to get moving and support our one call centers and our damage prevention partners at the state level.

Russel: Interesting. One of the things, whenever we talk and I have a moment to reflect about CGA and what you guys do, I always have to remind myself that your job is bigger than just pipelines. Pipelines is a big part of your job, but you’re concerned about all buried infrastructure. That’s even a bigger net than just pipelines, and pipelines, by itself, is a pretty big net.

Sarah: It is, but pipelines are also arguably the most heavily regulated infrastructure in our portfolio of underground infrastructure. When you think about the damages, who’s causing the most, telecom is actually causing the most damages, and they’re damaging their own stuff the most.

When you think about efficiency in the process, if you’re damaging your own stuff the most, that is a bit of a challenge.

Russel: When you say that, that makes perfect sense to me that that’s, in fact, the case. They also have the most abundant underground infrastructure.

Sarah: Right. Fiber installation is a lot different than a pipeline. Pipelines don’t get put in the ground unless there’s been community outreach and discussion and all of the things that go along. Nobody is shocked to see a pipeline go on the ground.

There is a competitive advantage with fiber to being first in. Often what happens is they’re trying to get fiber someplace where maybe there’s not enough locators. Maybe they’re having to bring in these people who do multiple.

Russel: The other thing is nobody wants a pipeline in their backyard. Everybody wants fiber in their backyard. 

Sarah: Right. Until they hit the gas line, then maybe not.

Russel: Yeah, exactly. I want it as long as it’s sitting there and I’m using it, but…Yeah. When’s your next conference? When’s the next CGA Conference and Expo?

Sarah: The next CGA Conference and Expo is going to be a special one. We are celebrating 25 years of Common Ground Alliance and it is April 7th through 10th next year  in Orlando at the Marriott World Center, and we will be showcasing 25 years of damage prevention.

We’re very excited and we expect another record breaking attendance and exhibitors and an all around great time and lots of amazing educational sessions. It’s going to be a good one.

Russel: Awesome. It’s time I go to a CGA conference. I haven’t been to one yet.

Sarah: You have to come next year, Russel. It’s our 25th anniversary.

Russel: Will you give me a spot to set up so I can grab people and talk to them?

Sarah: Absolutely.

Russel: Wow. I’m going to talk to Greg and we’re going to see if we can get that on the calendar. That’d be fun.

Sarah: Perfect.

Russel: What else would you like to talk about before we wrap up?

Sarah: I appreciate all of the support you have given CGA and this damage prevention work that we do because it is important and we want to make sure that we’re keeping communities safe, those who are working around this infrastructure safe, and keeping our communities connected.

On August 11th, I encourage everyone to think about any projects that they may be planning and making sure that they call 811 a few days prior to digging so that they’re safe.

Russel: Awesome. We’ll leave it there. For everybody listening, call 811 before you dig, and don’t let anybody dig before they call 811. Thanks, Sarah. Great to talk to you.

Sarah: Thanks, Russel.

Russel: I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of The Pipeliners Podcast and our conversation with Sarah. Just a reminder before you go, you should register to win our customized Pipeliners Podcast YETI tumbler. Visit PipelinePodcastNetwork.com/Win and enter yourself in the drawing.

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Transcription by CastingWords