Public Official Safety
Avista works closely with fire, police, and public officials to ensure public safety around our natural gas and electric facilities. If you have Avista facilities in your area, your employees traverse our natural gas areas, or you provide mutual aid, this information is for you.
This information is crucial if you have Avista facilities nearby or work in these areas.
Remember to regularly review and update your emergency response plans.
For excavation projects – large and small, click or call 811 at least two business days before digging. This helps prevent damage and avoid penalties. If you fail to contact 811 at least two business days before digging, and damages occur, a penalty may be imposed in addition to the repair costs.
Additional information and materials can be ordered for your city and contract crews by emailing publicsafety@avistacorp.com.
Call us at (800) 227-9187 if you have an emergency or any questions.
Watch a video: Call Before you Dig
Avista maintains clear and accessible pipeline right of ways for safety and reliability. It’s important to keep pipelines clear of trees, buildings, garages, and other structures that would interfere with our ability to conduct inspections, make repairs, or respond to an emergency. Never build over existing underground facilities. We work together with the local planning and zoning agencies to promote pipeline and community safety.
If you have questions or concerns, please call (800) 227-9187 to find the Avista manager in your area.
Hitting a gas or electric line can result in:
- Fires
- Costly repairs
- Property damages
- Serious safety hazards
- Strain on emergency personnel
- Fines in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon
- Inconveniences to the public, including outages and closed streets
For emergencies involving Avista facilities, call 1-800-227-9187 anytime. Avista will send a representative and if necessary, implement its Emergency Plan to ensure safety before restoring service.
Avista provides annual training for fire, police, and public officials to coordinate emergency response for natural gas and electric incidents. Avista employees have been trained on the Incident Command System (ICS). We periodically perform emergency response drills and may coordinate these drills with other emergency agencies.
Avista uses yellow markers along our right of way to clearly identify the presence of our underground transmission pipelines. These markers include a 24-hour emergency number and may not be used in all locations.
In accordance with federal regulations, for areas along our transmission pipelines where the consequences of an accident would be high, we have developed an Integrity Management Plan, to assess potential hazards and to manage the safety of our transmission lines. For more information regarding Avista’s Integrity Management Plan, please contact us.
Avista has approximately 91 miles of transmission pipelines and 8,200 miles of distribution pipelines. Visit npms.phmsa.dot.gov for a general location of our natural gas transmission pipeline and a list of other pipeline operators in your area.