Look what I found...

(Also known as "The Three Uh-Ohs of Excavation")

In the course of excavation, you often find things. This page deals with three of them:

Contacting or damaging a buried facility

If you come into contact with or damage a buried facility, you must:

Immediately notify the facility operator of the contact or damage
Stop all excavation in the immediate area surrounding the contacted or damaged facility

If you come into contact with or damage a buried facility, you must NOT:

Ignore it
Attempt to repair it
Bury, hide, or perform any backfilling in the immediate area

[ What the law says about hitting a facility ]

If the contact or damage causes an emergency involving danger to life, health or property (such as a damage to an underground facility containing gas or liquid petroleum products, or damage causing an electrical short or escape of gas or hazardous fluids,) you must:

Proceed to evacuate your employees and all other endangered persons from the immediate vicinity to the best of your ability
Immediately inform the local police, fire departments and the operator of the affected facility of the following:
- The exact location of the emergency
- The nature of the emergency
- The type of underground facility which is affected

[ What the law says about emergencies ]

Finding an unmarked or unknown facility

If you discover an unknown or unmarked facility in your work area, don't panic:

If the operator of the facility is obvious, notify them directly. They will respond immediately and inform you as to whether the excavation may proceed in the immediate area.
If you don't know who operates the facility, call Dig Safely New York. All member facilities will respond immediately and determine if the facility is theirs. If it is, they will then inform you as to whether the excavation may proceed in the immediate area.
While awaiting the determination of who operates the facility, you may proceed with the excavation taking care to protect the unknown facility from contact or damage.

[ What the law says about unmarked facilities ]

Finding a facility that either is going to or already has "failed"

It is possible that while properly excavating around a buried facility, you discover the facility either has or is going to "fail." Again, don't panic:

Immediately notify the facility operator, or contact Dig Safely New York if the facility owner is unknown.
Stop any work in the immediate vicinity which could cause further harm to the facility, until the operator advises you to proceed. You may proceed with the excavation if it will not cause further failure of the facility.

[ What the law says about finding a failing facility ]