Call Before You Dig: Sewer lines will soon be registered

Written by Susan Wolf
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 00:00

The town's wastewater treatment plant in Georgetown will soon be registered with the Call Before You Dig program.

At Monday's meeting, Jim Miller, a member of the Water Pollution Control Commission, presented information on the program. The WPCC oversees the operation of the plant, which was built under a state mandate.

Call Before You Dig is a clearinghouse set up by state statute that provides information for contractors on the location of utility lines, including telephone, cable and electric.

The town of Redding is not registered with the program, said Mr. Miller, because it has no underground utilities. However, the treatment plant does have underground lines, he said, and it may choose to register the plant as an entity of the town, as a wastewater treatment plant.

There is no membership fee for a municipally owned facility and no user fee for the same reason.

Once registered, if there is any work where WPCC plant lines are located, the WPCC would be notified so its representative could mark the location of the lines with green paint. Now, said Mr. Miller, the town has no clearinghouse. "If someone called, there is no record of us."

Mr. Miller said by registering with Call Before You Dig, any contractor working in Georgetown, which the plant serves, may get information about the sewer lines.

Once notified, the WPCC would have to mark the lines. By registering for the program, it would also have to appoint someone who would notify contractors, when requested, about the location of the sewer lines. Mr. Miller said that person would probably be the senior operator of the treatment plant.

Pointing to intersection work now underway along Route 107 in Georgetown, he said the WPCC's representative will talk to the contractor "to make sure he doesn't dig deep enough to get our lines."

Meanwhile, now that the commission has the selectmen's permission, it will begin the process of registering with Call Before You Dig.