Page 3 - Louisiana 811 Magazine 2020 Issue 3

from the desk of
Brent Saltzman
As I write this message, we’ve just incurred one
of the most powerful hurricanes we’ve ever experienced in Louisiana. Hurricane Laura caused massive damages to multiple areas of our great state
but especially to our friends in and near Lake Charles. Our prayers certainly go out to anyone impacted by this catastrophic event.
It’s difficult times like these that show our resiliency. Louisianians are extremely tough, have endured more than our fair share of adversity before and I’m confident we’ll come out on top yet again.
Restoration efforts are in full force and I’m sure will
be ongoing by the time this is published. As with any adverse situation, communication is the key in making progress and Louisiana 811 is here to assist in that endeavor for our stakeholders.
Many of our member companies are going to be
extremely busy for weeks, if not months, restoring vital infrastructure. Because of this, members are faced with stretched resources which may impact the response time to locate their underground utilities and facilities. Therefore,
we’re continuing to encourage the postponement of all excavation and demolition in impacted areas unless absolutely necessary for the foreseeable future. Excavators can
- more than likely - expect to receive calls or some other correspondence from utility companies requesting to delay the marking of their underground utilities. Our hope is that both parties, excavators and owner/operators, will communicate with each other to work things out. At the end of the day, we all have a job to do and working through adversity like this is no exception.
I urge everyone to be patient, listen to each other and work together. We WILL get through this and with faith I know we’ll overcome this obstacle.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me if you have an idea how we can do better as your One Call Center. We don’t have all the answers but we’re definitely willing to listen and assist when we can.
Until next time, please be safe out there because someone is depending on YOU to come home at the end of the day!
Brent Saltzman Executive Director Louisiana 811
2020, Issue 3
Louisiana 811
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