LAWRENCE, Kan. - April 1, 2016 - April is National Safe Digging Month, and as the weather in Kansas continues to become more ideal for outdoor projects, Black Hills Energy is emphasizing the company's first priority - safety - by providing important guidelines for safe digging.

First, whether you're a homeowner planting a shrub or a contractor using a backhoe, you must 'Call Before You Dig.' It's free, it's safe and it's the law.

Call Kansas One-Call toll-free at 811 or go to www.kansasonecall.com at least two business days before you plan to dig. Utility specialists will visit your site for free and mark the approximate location of buried utility lines with color-coded paint or flags - at no charge to you. Yellow, for example, marks gas lines.

Black Hills also offers a couple other tips for safe digging.

  • Before the utility specialists are scheduled to mark your underground utility lines, spray-paint a white line around your planned excavation site. 'White-lining' helps the line locator understand your plans and reduces the chance for project delays.
  • Do you know the proper way to increase safety by keeping your shovel-face parallel to the utility markings? Learn more safe digging tips at www.kansasonecall.com. Click on any of the three tabs on the homepage and find a list of best practices and pointer listed in the right-hand navigation.

'Our first priority always is to protect public safety,' said Nick Gardner, general manager for Black Hills Energy's Kansas gas operations. 'Any time of year, you must call before you dig. Buried gas lines may be out of sight, but they should never be out of mind.'

Anyone who doesn't follow Call Before You Dig laws can face substantial penalties. Striking an underground utility line could leave you responsible for expensive repairs to public or private property, to blame for a service outage to a neighborhood or entire community, or responsible for grave injury to anyone and everyone within a wide area.

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Black Hills Corporation issued this content on 01 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 01 April 2016 15:59:11 UTC

Original Document: http://www.blackhillscorp.com/node/117577