On a warm afternoon in Bellingham, Washington, on June 10, 1999, a 16-inch gasoline pipeline ruptured beneath Whatcom Falls Park. Roughly 237,000 gallons of fuel spilled into Whatcom Creek and ignited, sending a wall of flame down the green corridor through town. Three young people—18-year-old Liam Wood and 10-year-olds Wade King and Stephen Tsiorvas—were killed; the fire scorched over a mile of creek and shocked a community that had scarcely thought about the pipelines beneath its feet. The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation later detailed a cascade of failures—from prior third-party construction damage to control-system problems—that culminated in the disaster. 

We are just 2 weeks away from USP’s first charity golf tournament and the planning team is feeling the excitement! 

This year’s tournament takes place at The Hamptons Golf Club in Calgary – a world-class members-only club that has hosted numerous PGA legends exhibitions, Champions Tour qualifying events, and top local amateur and professional tournaments. 

Ground disturbance work is essential for construction, maintenance and repairs, but it also carries significant safety, environmental and operational risks. To protect workers, the public and vital infrastructure, the Ground Disturbance Standard of Pembina Pipeline Corporation (Pembina) requires that all excavation activities undergo a formal Ground Disturbance Risk Analysis during the planning stage. This process is an important safeguard that informs the precautions, supervision and work methods needed for safe excavations.

In today’s competitive talent landscape, companies are rethinking how they support employees - not just with salaries and perks, but with policies that reflect empathy and flexibility. One area gaining attention is short-term leave.

A Closer Look at USP’s Contact Centre Operations 
August is, if nothing else, steady. 

Steady drumming of fingers on keyboards, steady calls flowing effortlessly through our VoiP system and into the waiting ears of Agents, and steady days of continuous work becoming steady weeks. 

We are at a very interesting time for the utility industry - a turning point for records management and utility locating.  We can now digitally capture as-built records efficiently and leverage that information all the way through to utility locating to enhance our damage prevention efforts.

“Do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life”.  I’m sure most of us have heard this expression.  As we struggle to maintain a work/life balance, it can seem an unattainable goal.

For decades, the familiar “Call Before You Dig” message has been central to damage prevention. By dialing a 1-800 number, and now a three-digit number across the USA, homeowners and contractors could request that underground utilities be located before starting excavation. This system has prevented countless incidents of damaged pipelines, severed communication lines, and electrical hazards. But as technology and work practices evolve, damage prevention stakeholders are recognizing a more effective approach: shifting locate requests from calls to clicks. And it’s reducing damages!