• What is your responsibility?
• Pipeline rights of way
• How to identify underground natural gas pipelines
• Use your senses to detect a natural gas leak
• If you suspect a gas leak . . .
• Be alert to suspicious activity
• Call before you dig – it’s the law! Contractors and excavators
• Emergency responders and public safety officials

Natural gas lines – What is your responsibility?
Natural gas is transported from producing wells through large underground pipelines called transmission lines. The gas then travels to cities and towns through main lines. From the main lines, natural gas is carried to your home or business through service lines, which stop at the gas meter. NIFL owns and maintains that pipeline to the meter; however the property owner owns the house lines, including any that extend beyond the meter to the appliances inside the home or business, or to other locations on the property.

We conduct routine inspections of all piping up to the meter, repairing and replacing lines and meters as necessary. It’s the responsibility of the property owner, however, to initiate any inspection and necessary repair or replacement of customer piping through a qualified professional, such as a licensed heating/cooling contractor or plumber. If there is buried piping between the meter and your appliances, it might become subject to corrosion and leakage over time. Buried piping should be inspected periodically for leaks and for corrosion if the piping is metallic. If a gas leak is detected, it might be necessary to interrupt your gas service temporarily until repairs are made. Once the necessary repair work has been completed, the qualified technician who performed the work can restore natural gas service.

Pipeline rights of way help protect your safety
A pipeline right of way is the strip of land over and around a pipeline. Rights of way are kept clear of obstructions to enable the gas company to safely operate, patrol, inspect, maintain and repair its pipelines. We regularly inspect our rights of ways.

A right of way agreement between the gas company and the property owner is called an easement. Easements provide the gas company with permanent, limited interest to the land to enable us to access, operate, test, inspect, maintain and protect our pipelines. Although agreements may vary, rights of way can extend up to 25 feet each way from the center of the pipeline.

If the gas company has an easement on your property, you should be aware of our guidelines for encroachment and construction near natural gas pipeline equipment.

It’s important that property owners not install any structures, store anything that could be an obstruction, or plant trees or shrubs along the right of way. Normal gardening and agricultural activities are generally acceptable. But you should never dig or construct anything in the area without first having a gas company representative mark the pipeline, stake the right of way and explain the company’s construction guidelines.

How to identify underground natural gas pipelines
Natural gas pipelines are sometimes identified by markers placed at intervals along pipeline rights of way. Markers display 24-hour emergency telephone numbers and might provide other identifying information. They are generally placed wherever needed to indicate the presence of a pipeline, such as where a pipeline easement intersects a street, railroad, or river and in heavily congested areas.

Pipeline markers are important to your safety. It’s a federal crime to willfully deface, damage, remove or destroy any pipeline sign or right-of-way marker.

While the markers are very helpful to indicate the presence of pipelines in the area, they don’t show the exact location, depth, or how many pipelines are in the right of way. Don’t rely solely on the presence or absence of a pipeline marker. Always call your state’s one-call notification service to have underground pipelines marked.

Use your senses to detect a natural gas leak
Natural gas pipelines have a proven record of safety. Sometimes, however, pipeline failure can occur. Hazards associated with a pipeline failure and gas release may include blowing gas, line rupture, fire, explosion or, if gas is present in a confined area, possible asphyxiation.

Damage by outside force, often by someone digging into a pipeline, is the largest single cause of pipeline failures. Incidents may occur due to corrosion, material failure, equipment failure or other causes, also.