Digging Safely

People are always poking all kinds of holes in the ground. New trees, shrubs, fence posts, mailboxes, foundations or basements.

If your outdoor projects call for some digging, even as shallow as one foot deep, you need to know what is under the ground first. It could be only a few earthworms or it could be a buried utility line energized with 220 volts or more of electricity.

Before you dig up that yard, think safety first? By state law, you must call South Dakota One Call at 811 at least 72 hours prior to digging. Black Hills Electric Cooperative and other utilities in the area will be notified of your plans and send a crew out to locate and mark any underground wires.

Calling South Dakota One Call at 811 could save your life or prevent an outage.