As your natural gas delivery company, Peoples Gas works every day to make sure that gas arrives safely to your business. By learning more about the delivery system, you'll help to ensure everyone's safety.
Peoples Gas works diligently to maintain the safety and reliability of its delivery system and counts on you to follow all natural gas safety rules and report any incidents. This page provides detailed information:
Every day in the United States, several million cubic feet of natural gas travel through an underground delivery system to 64 million utility customers. The gas is extracted from the earth and fed into gathering and transmission lines that bring supplies to all regions of the United States. Some natural gas is stored underground for use at a later time. Natural gas is brought to utilities' "gate stations" that feed into gas mains, then to businesses via service lines.
The Peoples Gas natural gas delivery system runs underground and has an excellent record of safety and reliability. The company conducts all required tests, inspections, monitoring and upgrading to its system as required by state and federal laws.
There are several ways to identify if a pipeline or other natural gas facility is located in your community:
Pipeline Markers:
Peoples Gas has installed
above-ground markers to indicate our pipeline "rights-of-way."
However, markers do not indicate the exact location and depth of the
pipeline. The markers provide a toll-free number (800-328-8700) to
report problems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Transmission line
markers are typically placed at public road crossings, fence lines
and street intersections. In most cases, these are not located inside
urban service territories. The public should become familiar with
nearby marker locations, and report any unusual or suspicious activities
near these markers to their local police and the pipeline operator.The leading cause of accidents on a natural gas delivery system is hitting lines when digging. Serious injury or death, property damage and service outages can occur if gas pipes are struck during excavation.
You are required by law to call a One-Call Center at least two business days before you dig or excavate. Utilities will mark underground pipes at your site free of charge. Once underground facilities are marked, you are required to follow established guidelines when digging to prevent striking any underground facilities.
If you plan to dig inside Peoples Gas' service territory, call before you dig.
If you are located outside of the Peoples Gas service territory, call the appropriate One-Call Center in your area. You can find the One-Call Center in your area by contacting the national Dig Safely referral line at 888-258-0808.
Natural gas is colorless and odorless. That's why utilities add an odorant called mercaptan to natural gas. Its unpleasant smell helps alert you in the event of a gas leak. The unintentional release of gas is dangerous to the public and could cause fires, explosions, injury, the loss of property and even death. A gas leak or damaged pipeline is indicated if you observe the following:
If you observe any of these conditions, call the utility's emergency phone number, 866-556-6002, the number on the pipeline marker or 9-1-1 from another location.
To ensure safety, Peoples Gas works diligently to comply with the Gas Integrity Management Rule, established by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. This mandate requires that utilities identify high-density population areas and perform periodic inspections of pipelines located in those areas. Peoples Gas' Pipeline Integrity Program describes these high-density population areas, characterizes the threats to the pipelines in these areas, and describes how these pipelines will be tested, and how any defects will be evaluated and repaired. The effectiveness of the Pipeline Integrity Program is monitored, and the program is modified as needed to improve its effectiveness.
Physical damage to the pipeline and facilities is considered one of the most severe threats to people and the environment. Peoples Gas' recently established Pipeline Integrity and Public Awareness Programs ensure better protection from pipeline incidents. To learn more about pipeline integrity management, log on to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Web site www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov.
Public safety and environmental protection are a priority for Peoples Gas. We have longstanding relationships with emergency responders where our facilities are located, as well as established, federally required emergency response plans in place. Our personnel is ideally trained and equipped to manage any natural gas incident in conjunction with emergency response officials.
| Contact Name | Phone Number |
|---|---|
| Customer Service | 866-556-6001 |
| Emergencies (24 Hours) | 866-556-6002 |
| Pipeline Emergencies | 800-328-8700 |
| All Emergencies | 911 |
| Before You Dig | 312-744-7000 |
| Pipeline Integrity Engineer | 773-542-7846 |