The Board of Directors at JULIE, Inc. (JULIE) announced its winner of the 2024 Gina Meehan-Taylor Damage Prevention Advocacy Award at its annual meeting in Joliet, on Aug. 1.
Chris Schildroth, Public Awareness Specialist for Ameren Illinois., was chosen as the 2024 recipient of the Gina Meehan-Taylor Damage Prevention Advocacy Award for his dedication as an advocate of damage prevention to natural gas pipelines. Nationwide every six minutes, someone contacts an underground utility because they didn't call 8-1-1 before that first shovel or spike broke the earth.
outreach, advocacy, and education
Chosen from a pool of nominations from throughout Illinois, JULIE selected Schildroth because of the positive impact he has made through outreach, advocacy, and education.
In the nomination submitted by a peer at Ameren Illinois, Schildroth was recognized for being proactive and a responsive advocate for safety.
damage prevention
"Chris is a champion of damage prevention with a tireless commitment to pipeline safety," said Jake Dukett, supervisor of Natural Gas Public Awareness for Ameren Illinois.
"Every day, he travels to communities large and small throughout our service territory, preparing emergency first responders, contractors, and public works groups on how to respond to natural gas emergencies. He has also conducted countless public awareness sessions about pipeline and underground damage prevention for members of the general public."
free service
Ameren Illinois would like to remind customers that marking utility lines is a free service for homeowners – and it's the law. Follow these important steps to stay in compliance and avoid serious injury, loss of service and expensive repairs:
- Call 811 at least two business days before starting a digging project. Requests can be made at no cost, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 811, the national call-before-you-dig phone number, automatically connects callers to JULIE in Illinois.
- Wait until a professional locator comes out to mark natural gas, electric, water, sewer, telephone, and cable lines. The approximate location of buried utilities will be marked with paint or flags so that users can avoid them. Each utility type corresponds to a specific color of paint or a flag, and all of them must be marked before the user can dig.
- Once the site has been marked, proceed with caution. Try to avoid digging within 18 to 24 inches of each utility mark, if possible. It’s important to use the appropriate tools to dig with care and follow safe digging practices.
advocacy award
JULIE established the advocacy award in memory of Meehan-Taylor, who was a damage prevention professional with Ameren Illinois. Meehan-Taylor was passionate about protecting underground utilities.
She actively promoted calling 811 before digging and spread the message about the importance and need to contact JULIE before digging. She had also served on the JULIE Board of Directors and Public Education Committee.