Shell Sets The Pace In Promoting Pipeline Safety

An estimated 2.7 million television viewers across the country witnessed the climactic finish of the April 25 NASCAR race in Talladega, FL as driver Kevin Harvick sped past a competitor to capture the lead in the final lap. For Shell, principal sponsor of Harvick’s high-performance car, the event represented a double victory.

It reaffirmed the company’s decision to support Harvick and others on the Richard Childress Racing team, aligning Shell products with a winner on the track. And, it provided significant visibility for a critical pipeline safety message.

In addition to the Shell Pecten and the logo of Pennzoil, Shell’s leading lubricants brand, the car carried these words: “811. Know what’s below. Call before you dig.” The slogan reminded viewers that a phone call to this number could help prevent damage to pipelines and other underground utility lines, which could cause injuries, environmental incidents and service outages.

That extra effort to promote pipeline safety marked another milestone in Shell’s ongoing involvement in the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), an organization comprising representatives of the underground utility industry who are dedicated to reducing damage to buried facilities. As CGA President Bob Kipp explained, “NASCAR is a target market for us because a lot of…workers, homeowners and people who do a lot of digging watch the races.”

Common Ground Alliance’s First Ever President’s Award Goes To Shell And Is Accepted by Mary Mujica (left).

It is that kind of creative thinking to put 811 in the public’s eye, Kipp said, that prompted CGA to honor Shell with its first-ever President’s Award, citing the company’s “leadership and innovation in efforts made to protect people, property and the environment.”

Protecting The Pipelines
About 165,000 miles of petroleum pipelines crisscross the country, carrying almost 6.8 billion barrels of crude oil and almost 6.6 billion barrels of refined petroleum products annually. According to Department of Transportation (DoT) statistics, pipelines are the safest method of transporting gasoline, diesel, heating fuel and jet fuel, and by reducing the volume that must be moved by truck or train, they make the roads and railways safer for travelers.

As the population has grown, so, too, has the demand for more pipelines to transport petroleum products. With this population growth, the wide-open spaces that once overlaid pipelines have been developed into subdivisions, shopping centers and streets. According to Andrew Black, president and CEO of the American Association of Oil Pipelines, more than 40% of liquid pipelines now run below high-consequence areas, including populated and environmentally sensitive areas and commercially navigable waterways.

To help prevent damage to pipelines and other utility lines, 62 call centers with toll-free 800 numbers have been established across the country for people to contact before beginning an excavation project. The centers notify companies with buried facilities nearby; representatives of companies whose lines could be jeopardized meet with the excavators, mark the lines’ location and provide information about safe digging practices.

“The problem, however, is that the centers’ names aren’t consistent,” Kipp explained. “Many people couldn’t find the number in the phone book in the past, and they often wouldn’t bother searching.”