Gopher One

Gopher State One Call is the One Call notification system established to inform all Minnesota underground facility operators of intended excavation. As the communication link between the excavator and the underground facility operator, it has increased public safety while decreasing underground facility damage, monetary loss, and personal injury by coordinating the locating of underground facilities. Gopher State One Call, a nonprofit organization, grew out of a response to a serious pipeline accident in the northern Twin Cities in July of 1986. Following this accident, Governor Rudy Perpich created the Minnesota Commission on Pipeline Safety to review and recommend law changes at the federal and state levels that would enhance public safety. In 1987 the Minnesota Legislature mandated a Commission recommendation for a centralized statewide information processing center to relay excavation notices to excavators and underground facility operators. Minnesota State Statute Chapter 216D now requires anyone who engages in any type of excavation to provide advance notice of at least two working days to Gopher State One Call. The service provided by Gopher State One Call to excavators is free of charge. The cost of Gopher State One Call is paid in full by underground facility operators. Gopher State One Call is unique in a number of ways. It is one of very few statewide One Call centers in the country that not only covers a large geographic area but also has mandatory utility membership. In Minnesota, all parties come together to enhance the safety of the general public. The Gopher State One Call Board of Directors is diverse in its representation. Board Members come from such groups as municipalities, the water industry, electric utilities, propane, natural gas, the pipeline industry, cable television operators, contractors, right-of-way operators, and at large members. This diverse group represents both the Twin Cities metro area and Greater Minnesota. While the educati