Outdoor Natural Gas Safety Checklist 

Maintain a clear path to your gas meter all year long to accommodate service visits, periodic safety inspections and emergency situations. Practice meter safety in all seasons:

• Be careful around uprooted trees, especially after severe weather. Root systems can entangle buried pipelines, and a fallen tree may damage a pipe, resulting in a natural gas leak. 
  
• Remove branches that may have fallen on the gas meter due to storms or high winds. Notify DTE about any visible damage.
• Trim tall grass, weeds and greenery around the gas meter.
• Do not allow leaves to pile up that will limit access to the meter during a service visit or emergency.
• Be careful using a shovel, snow blower or snowplow when clearing snow and ice near the gas meter. Remove snow and ice carefully by hand, brush or broom.
• Do not use sharp objects, salt, ice-melting chemicals or hot water to remove snow and ice from a meter.
• Cautiously remove ice hanging from roof edges above the meter.
• Clear your natural gas appliance vents and air intakes of obstructions to decrease the risk of carbon monoxide building up inside.