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from the desk of
Brent Saltzman
We have some very exciting news to share with you in this issue of our magazine. We are continually striving to move forward in fulfilling our mission of providing excellent damage-prevention services to ALL stakeholders in an effective manner.
I will start by sharing some good news regarding this last legislative session. We were successful in the passage of House Bill 397 (now ACT No. 75) which outlines a Large Project Excavation or Demolition and adds some language that will assist marine excavators. Louisiana is ahead of many other states with these changes to our Dig Law and something to be proud of. Check
out this issue for more specifics regarding this legislation that will become effective January 1, 2025.
As mentioned in my last column, we are extremely excited to announce that we have hired another team member to assist with our damage prevention efforts! Her name is Ja’Ponica Dunbar, and she has hit the ground running since her start in early June. Ja’Ponica, who goes by JP, will primarily cover
southeast Louisiana and has already proved to be a huge asset to the Louisiana 811 team. She has a warm smile and a willingness to serve so please join me in welcoming her aboard.
Another bit of extremely exciting news is our online training for excavators is now available in Spanish! You asked for it and we responded. We have had our brochures available in Spanish for years but now have this awesome tool at your disposal too. Please help spread the word with your Spanish-speaking friends.
Look for us at upcoming events. We have a full slate of pipeline awareness meetings we will be participating in that run through late August in various locations in Louisiana. And don’t forget the fun and educational Digger’s Night Out functions that will be held in Mandeville, Lake Charles, and Baton Rouge in September and early October. These and a multitude of other educational functions can be found on our Events Calendar at www.louisiana811.com, on social media, and listed here in our magazine.
Finally, you will want to check out our new Dashboard tool that can be viewed on our website Resource Center. This tool will give you the ability to see real-time data of total tickets for the State of Louisiana and allow users to query data by Parish, ticket type and date ranges amongst other things. We are anxious for users to look at this tool, try it out and provide feedback. We feel it will be helpful in discovering where the tickets are coming from and what type of tickets are being submitted.
Until next time, stay safe and hydrated!
Brent Saltzman Executive Director Louisiana 811
2024, Issue 3
Louisiana 811
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