MDU Service Technicians Have Busy Four Days - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

MDU Service Technicians Have Busy Four Days

They've been working almost non-stop to restore natural gas service to a couple communities out west after back to back incidents.

Around one hundred residents in Taylor now have natural gas service restored.

A contractor accidentally cut a natural gas pipeline last night, forcing eight MDU crews to repair meters in Taylor throughout the night.

Many of the same crews just did this in Watford City and Arnegard this weekend after a contractor near the town of Alexander also cut into a transmission line.

Overall, in the past four days as many as 52 MDU techs at once have had to go door to door to restore service to around 11-hundred homes.

MDU reps say it's another reminder to always "call before you dig"

"Number one it's dangerous where somebody could be injured or worse and then the trickle down effect from their, customers losing power or natural gas service, so then it leads to, especially this time of year not having your furnace running makes it kind of a scramble to get to it as quick as you can." says Mark Hanson/MDU Resources Group/Public Relations.

"You know we didn't really notice anything, they did come knock on our door, go downstairs where the heater is at 12:30 last night, so it woke us up but that was the worst of it for us." says Bethany Myran/Taylor

Hanson says an increase in year-round construction has caused transmission lines to be cut more this past year.

The number to call before you dig is 811 or 1-800-795-0555.