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2009 creates exciting opportunities for damage prevention

by Mark McCarver

It is hard to believe that we are already into October. Football games and cooler weather are a welcome sign to most of us. Additionally, this year has really produced and revealed some exciting opportunities in damage prevention and pipeline safety efforts.

Our group added a new inspector this year. Neill Wood came on board and works out of the Central district. Neill lives in Port Gibson and has worked several years in the local distribution arena. We are excited to have him on our team.

Our Damage Prevention Committee (MDPC) has achieved significant progress since its inception in strengthening our one-call law. The latest addition of the positive response and the requiring of all facilities to be locatable can only help further better safety practices in the Magnolia state. The momentum gained will help keep Mississippi an even safer place to live and work.

As I write this, we have completed five of our six regional damage prevention meetings. The last meeting for this year will be held in Jackson, October 27, 2009. The purpose of the meetings is to encourage all stakeholders to share their perspectives and experiences. It is in the best interest of all who live and work in Mississippi to develop the best possible response to new federal legislation. I know that as we focus more and more on accountability, as defined in our law, people will come forward and encourage our committee to do whatever it takes to make Mississippi an even safer place.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone interested in damage prevention to the Summit, Nov. 9-11, 2009, in Tunica. The MDPC, and especially the Summit Training Committee, have put together a world class event, and I look forward to seeing everyone attend. Our gas operators, as well as water and other operators, will receive continuing education hours for their attendance and completion of the workshops. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from one another in a setting designed to develop partnerships and consensus.

For the past couple of years, we have talked about and pursued the opportunity to have a training facility in Mississippi, especially geared to train gas operators with hands-on field instruction and also quality classroom time. Pipeline safety has worked closely with the Mississippi Natural Gas Association to make this become a reality.
We have also partnered with the state fire marshal’s office and the state fire academy to secure a place centrally located where this training can be conducted. The fire academy has graciously afforded us the land to build an outdoor training facility where various concepts can be utilized to qualify operators on required and important tasks which they perform daily as gas operators.

The academy is also in the process of building new classroom facilities that will be state of the art. Our group is very excited about this partnership with the state fire academy. We see this as an opportunity not only to train gas operators, but for the academy instructors to utilize the concept and the facilities to train firefighters and others in the safe handling of natural gas situations. Firefighters, police, and other emergency responders are usually first on the scene at these incidents. It is our desire to “break ground” on this early next year. If you have an interest in participating and/or helping, please contact me, and I will be happy to discuss our vision and progress with you.

I look forward to working with you in making Mississippi an even greater place to live and work.