April 3, 2024 – Explorer Pipeline Reminds Homeowners to Call 811 Before Doing Outdoor Projects

During the spring and summer months Oklahoma sees a variety of weather conditions. Tulsa and surrounding counties will often see sunshine, rain, hail, strong winds and cold fronts all in the same day. Many times, storms can cause damage to homes and yards. And in some cases, residents are without power, while linemen and electricians work to fix damage to powerlines.

Explorer Pipeline wants to remind everyone to be safe while working on their backyard space whether it be from storm damage clean up or home improvement projects. While workers are fixing the lines above, remember there may be lines below the ground. Many homes in Tulsa are along the path of its buried pipeline that transports petroleum products. Before digging anywhere below the surface, homeowners and contractors should call 8-1-1 to ensure the safety of the area.

811 is a free service to locate buried utilities and pipelines before digging. The depth of the lines can vary for several reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility and pipelines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches the risk of striking an underground line still exists. When calling 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to the local one-call center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators then arrive at the digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, spray paint or both.

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Explorer Pipeline is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has over 240 employees. It transports refined petroleum products through an 1872-mile pipeline system extending from Port Arthur, Texas to the upper Midwest and serves major markets, including Houston, Dallas, Tulsa, St. Louis, and Chicago. The southern system currently has a capacity of 660,000 barrels per day and the northern system currently has a capacity of 450,000 barrels per day.

Media Contact:

Catherine Divis

(918) 645-0629
[email protected]