Narrator: “CGA has set an ambitious goal of reducingdamages by 50% in 5 years, and it's going to take all of us coming together toachieve this vision as an industry. To get a pulse on where we're headed, wesat down with industry experts to share their insights. Let's take a look atwhat they had to say.”
Terry Newman (GAC Enterprises): “It’s a necessity. Nomatter what, it keeps our crews and the community safe that we’re excavatingin.”
Scott Brown (Washington Gas): “Damage prevention meanseverything to me. It's put my kids through college, it's bought me a house, andit has been a very dynamic industry that’s allowed me to stay sharp and havegreat conversations with great people.”
Ryan Egan (Metronet): “Everything, I mean, damageprevention is safety. It’s making sure everybody goes home at night. Everybodygets a chance to make the money they need and live their life. That’s what’shuge for me.”
Patrick Donoghue (Kentucky 811): “To me, damageprevention means keeping us all as a community, flowing together. It’s keepingit safe. It’s keeping us all connected. Having that running water, that gas tokeep your stove going, the Internet so you can watch the game. So, just keepingus all working and keeping us safe. Preventing injury.”
Marvin Lopez (PointMan by Prostar): “Damage preventionmeans to me advancements in underground locating, advancements in technology. Really,damage prevention is safety and the more you can do with new technologies,working in collaboration with others, also trying to push it through higher,like federal government, municipal, whatever it is, it’s all going towards thatsame goal, safety.”
Josie Scholten (New Mexico Pipeline Safety Bureau): “Tome, it means protecting the public and protecting the infrastructure.”
Jim Schauer (Energy WorldNet): “Responsibility andawareness. And that means that we all have a play a part in the safety ofeverybody that’s involved in our industry, as well as our communities too – ourneighbors and such like that.”
Brian Dean (Sunshine 811): “Damage prevention meanseverybody goes home safely at the end of the day, and when they get there, alltheir vital utility services are working.”
James Cross (Energy WorldNet) “I mean, that’s obviousright? damageprevention.com. I mean it’s such a good domain.”
Scott Brown: “I think the key to collaboration is beingable to listen to what people say, to work with the other stakeholders, gettheir perspective, and then try to get to where we can meet in the middleground. It’s what collaboration is the foundation of the best practices for CGA,and that’s we leverage it every chance we get.”
Ryan Egan: “Communication is key, but not justcommunication. Thoughtful, meaningful communication. Making sure that you’recommunicating effectively, not just words and emails, but collaboration.”
Josie Scholten: “In my current role, it’s just aboutenforcing the New Mexico excavation laws. So, I do a lot of site visits. I’lljust pull up on contractors, check their locates, make sure they’re potholing,make sure they’re not blind boring. I have really good communication with the locatorsand the contractors in the area that I work due to my line locating professionbefore, so I’ve made a really good name for myself in the industry over theyears. So, for me, I’ll pull up and I’ll issue a $5,000 fine on the spot, andI’ll shut them down if they’re digging unsafe.”
Jim Schauer: “Well, really, the way we collaborate isthat we communicate. And I think we’ve really done a good job lately,especially over the last probably five to ten years of getting better andbetter at that. The more we communicate, we tear down the walls that arebetween us and actually start to talk about best practices, what has worked,what have we learned, what would we not do the next time, and share that, thebetter we are.”
James Cross “So we’re a training company at our core. EWN(Energy Worldnet) has been you know a vital part of training and the naturalgas side, but in utilities as a whole. So, you know, our commitment obviouslyis around training making sure folks have what they need. They’re qualified,they’re ready to be on the job doing things. That’s an obvious play, right? Butthe second part has been a neat part of having the podcast has been able toshare the messages with everyone else right our industry is about awareness andyou know public awareness and just in general and so for us, Jim and I, we’vebeen able to use this platform to really you know make echoes from the events thatso many people don’t get to attend.”
Patrick Donoghue: “Just everyone’s willing to worktogether. We’re all part of the same industry and team, so even if it’s water, theystill want to work with the gas side to make sure they don’t hit that gas lineor vice versa.”
Marvin Lopez: “I feel like at CGA '25, it’s been one ofthe best ways of noticing that the industry is finally at an apex oftechnologies, softwares, and also the industry as a whole coming together toreally work on this damage prevention solution.”
James Cross: “One consistent theme that we hear over and overis just look all the low-hanging fruit is gone you know we challenged that along time ago and so really we’recollaborating in a way that these stakeholders maybe never have before, andwhen I say collaboration, it could be a five-minute conversation at lunch or atwo-hour session you know a working session with a bunch of stakeholders, but Ithink bringing those again we heard itin the keynote this morning about inviting perspectives in and I think we’re doing a really good job ofthat.”
Josie Scholten: “I think a lot of it’s communication and collaboration.Especially in my new role. I really strive for communication between thecontractors and the locators. Coming from the locator background, if there’s nocommunication, lines more so get hit.”
Jim Schauer: “I’ve seen the industry embrace the idea oftearing down the walls. The industry has had a lot of, at times, very muchsilos. And I see people trying to break down those silos and really trying tocross collaborate and really trying to communicate and learn from each other,as well as share, again, things that have worked well.”
Terry Newman: “It's our culture.”
Scott Brown: “Not important enough in everybody’s life,as much as it should be.”
Ryan Egan: “Damage prevention is everything. It’s whatwe’re here for.”
Marvin Lopez: “Damage prevention is capital in yourpocket. It is the less work you have to do, the less times you have to go outto the field, the more money you’re putting in your pocket. But also, safety,of course. It always goes back to safety. So if you can be safe and you canearn money, it’s a win-win.”
Josie Scholten: “Critical. I mean, we have to protect theinfrastructure and public safety.”
Jim Schauer: “Our responsibility to do the right thingeach and every day, and it starts at where we live and it goes all the way tothe workplace.”
David Ferguson: “Connecting, networking, andcollaborating to prevent damages to underground utilities.”
James Cross: “It’s all of us. Right? I mean it’s acommitment. It’s not one. We’ve pointed fingers for a long time, but again,coming together, collaborating. I mean it’s all of us. It’s going to takeabsolutely all of us.”
Josie Scholten: “I am damage prevention.”
Terry Newman: “I am damage prevention.”
Jim Schauer: “I am damage prevention.”
Crowd: “WE ARE DAMAGE PREVENTION!”
