WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Common Ground
Alliance (CGA), the stakeholder-run organization dedicated to
protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them, and
their communities, today announced findings from its comprehensive
2016 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report.
The report, which is the sum of all 2016 data submitted
anonymously and voluntarily by facility operators, utility locating
companies, one call centers, contractors, regulators, and others,
estimates that the total number of underground excavation
damages in the U.S. last year rose 20 percent from the year
prior, to approximately 379,000, and conservatively cost direct
stakeholders at least $1.5
billion. The 2016 DIRT Report benefitted from a
record-high number of event record submissions as well as a
record-high Data Quality Index score (a measurement of the
completeness of data submissions), yielding the most comprehensive
analysis of damages to buried facilities ever compiled.
Data from 2016 informed CGA's first-ever estimate of the
societal costs associated with underground facility damages in the
U.S. As estimated by a very conservative model accounting only for
stakeholders' direct costs related to a damage, 2016 damages alone
cost approximately $1.5 billion in
the U.S. This estimate does not include property damage to
excavating equipment or the surrounding area, evacuations of
residences and businesses, road closures and/or traffic delays,
environmental impacts, legal costs, injuries or deaths. Customers
and users of underground facilities were most impacted, shouldering
just over 30 percent of the total societal costs, and emergency
responders absorbed more than 23 percent.
While the 2016 damage ratio, which measures damages per 1,000
one call transmissions, increased 14 percent from 2015,
construction spending has risen such that the ratio of damages to
construction spending has dramatically declined since 2004 (the
first year the DIRT Report was issued), and estimated damages have
stabilized into the 300,000-400,000 range since 2010 despite
increased construction activity in the interim.
"The substantial estimated economic impacts of damages to
underground facilities across the U.S. likely do not come as a big
surprise to damage prevention advocates who are dedicated to
reducing that figure – along with the very human impacts these
damages can have – on a daily basis. Nevertheless, we hope that the
2016 DIRT Report's analysis of the $1.5
billion in societal impact is eye-opening to both the
industry and the public at large, and provides clear evidence that
reducing damages is solidly in the public interest," said
Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, president
and CEO of CGA. "The latest DIRT Report also examines damage
prevention paradigms in other countries for the first time, which
is an opportunity to consider how this information can help us can
work toward our goal of zero damages."
Other significant findings from the 2016 DIRT Report include
that damages caused by a failure to call 811 prior to digging have
fallen to a record-low 16 percent, part of an encouraging long-term
trend.
Once again, CGA has made an interactive DIRT Dashboard
accessible to the public through its website, allowing users to
view and manipulate the data through the lens of a specific
element, e.g., damages by state, root cause analysis, etc. It
contains a series of dashboard visualizations that allow users to
sort information through additional filters, giving damage
prevention stakeholders a powerful tool for drilling down into the
areas where they feel they can have the biggest positive impact.
Added this year are the capabilities to filter several dashboards
by state or year (inclusive of 2015 and 2016 data), as well as a
new dashboard that centers around the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration's (PHMSA) determinations on the adequacy of state
damage prevention programs.
"CGA's Data Reporting and Evaluation Committee has worked
tirelessly to recruit quality data submissions and explore new
areas of analysis to inform the 2016 DIRT Report as part of its
pursuit to provide damage prevention advocates and the public with
comprehensive, relevant information," said Bob Terjesen, Data Committee co-chair from
National Grid. "DIRT data is more accessible than ever with the
interactive DIRT Dashboard hosted on the CGA website, making it
possible for any stakeholder to explore the unique ways each of us
can have an impact on the staggering $1.5
billion in societal costs caused by damages to buried
utilities, and on protecting the people who work near them."
The complete DIRT Annual Report for 2016 is available for
download at www.commongroundalliance.com, and stakeholders
interested in submitting data to the 2017 report or establishing a
Virtual Private Dirt account should visit the DIRT site at
www.cga-dirt.com.
About CGA
CGA is a member-driven association of
nearly 1,700 individuals, organizations and sponsors in every facet
of the underground utility industry. Established in 2000, CGA is
committed to saving lives and preventing damage to North American
underground infrastructure by promoting effective damage prevention
practices. CGA has established itself as the leading organization
in an effort to reduce damages to underground facilities in
North America through shared
responsibility among all stakeholders. For more information, visit
CGA on the web at http://www.commongroundalliance.com.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-common-ground-alliance-dirt-report-estimates-that-damage-to-buried-utilities-cost-society-at-least-15-billion-last-year-300503829.html
SOURCE Common Ground Alliance