As we all know, April is National Safe Digging Month. Earlier in April, the West Virginia Damage Prevention Board, along with WV 811 and GOWV, all teamed up to hold a Damage Prevention Seminar at the new Hope Gas education facility in Clarksburg, WV. There, members of WV 811, as well as the Damage Prevention Board and members of the WV PSC, were given a proclamation from the Governor proclaiming April as Safe Dig Month. There was a great turnout for contractors and excavators to get an up-close and personal education on all things damage prevention. During the seminar, there were many speakers as well as a panel discussion on challenges that some of our members face on a day-to-day basis. There were speakers from many different utility types, and it was good to see everyone’s perspective and see the differences, as well as some of the same challenges we all face in the field.
As we move further into dig season, damage prevention should be at the forefront of everyone’s thinking. From the engineer making the plans to the individual running the equipment, damage prevention is everyone’s responsibility.
With that being said, there have been a couple of new laws that were passed this year that will go into effect June 7th. One of those directly affects the West Virginia Damage Prevention Board, and that is, if you are issued a fine and you do not pay that fine, the board has the ability to place a lien against your company until the fine is paid. Again, this new law goes into effect on June 7th, 2026.
Another law that was changed was the ability to extend the 48 hours required to wait for utilities to mark their underground facilities. If there is a mutual agreement in writing, either through text, email, or handwritten, to extend the waiting period past the 48 hours, there will be no violation for the late locates.
There are some new and upcoming features to the West Virginia Damage Prevention Board website to make it more user-friendly, to have transparency of what the Damage Prevention Board has been doing, as well as other great features. Stay tuned and watch our website for more information. As always, dig safely.