Town presents annual gas-safety public-awareness briefing; staff urges callers to contact Tennessee 811 before digging
May 28, 2026 | Smyrna, Rutherford County, Tennessee
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Smyrna’s gas department delivered its federally required annual public-awareness presentation at the town workshop, underscoring safety procedures residents should follow when excavating and how to recognize leaks.
The coordinator of safety and compliance said the town now operates roughly 315 miles of gas mainline and serves 12,594 customers, and that about 83–92% of service lines are polyethylene, which reduces corrosion-related failures. "We had 22 hits to our system in 2025 and we were down from 27 hits in 2024," the coordinator said, framing the decline as evidence the outreach program and inspection activity are working.
The presentation included concrete safety guidance: do not dig without calling Tennessee 811; markings have a two‑foot tolerance on each side and the utility’s exact depth is unknown; and signs of a leak include a rotten-egg smell (mercaptan), hissing sounds, dead vegetation or frost on the ground. "When you see something, say something," the coordinator said, and added that in an emergency residents should call 459-2553 or 911 from a safe distance.
Council members asked how "hits" were defined and whether the town’s public-awareness survey would be repeated. Staff said most hits are contractor-related, that survey-response rates by phone have fallen, and that tracking social-media engagement and web hits may be a more reliable follow-up metric than outgoing phone surveys.
The coordinator said the department performs routine leak surveys and cathodic-protection checks, inspects 12–14 regulator stations, and uses a mix of public outreach—bill inserts, cable channel spots and event appearances—to reach residents. A short acknowledgement survey will be circulated with June utility bills to document completion of the outreach.
The presentation closed with an offer to share materials and a request that residents complete the feedback form available at the meeting and on the town website.
The coordinator of safety and compliance said the town now operates roughly 315 miles of gas mainline and serves 12,594 customers, and that about 83–92% of service lines are polyethylene, which reduces corrosion-related failures. "We had 22 hits to our system in 2025 and we were down from 27 hits in 2024," the coordinator said, framing the decline as evidence the outreach program and inspection activity are working.
The presentation included concrete safety guidance: do not dig without calling Tennessee 811; markings have a two‑foot tolerance on each side and the utility’s exact depth is unknown; and signs of a leak include a rotten-egg smell (mercaptan), hissing sounds, dead vegetation or frost on the ground. "When you see something, say something," the coordinator said, and added that in an emergency residents should call 459-2553 or 911 from a safe distance.
Council members asked how "hits" were defined and whether the town’s public-awareness survey would be repeated. Staff said most hits are contractor-related, that survey-response rates by phone have fallen, and that tracking social-media engagement and web hits may be a more reliable follow-up metric than outgoing phone surveys.
The coordinator said the department performs routine leak surveys and cathodic-protection checks, inspects 12–14 regulator stations, and uses a mix of public outreach—bill inserts, cable channel spots and event appearances—to reach residents. A short acknowledgement survey will be circulated with June utility bills to document completion of the outreach.
The presentation closed with an offer to share materials and a request that residents complete the feedback form available at the meeting and on the town website.
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