Black Hills Energy-Wheatland 03/09/26

 

At approximately 10:00 a.m. this morning, Black Hills Energy’s crews responded to a report of a natural gas leak at 1307 16th Street in Wheatland. As a safety precaution, first responders have evacuated the Safeway grocery store and natural gas service to the building has been shut off while repairs to a damaged line are being made.

The safety of customers, employees and the community is the highest priority, and the company will work with the business to restore natural gas service once repairs have been completed.

The company offers these reminders for safe digging at home and for contractors:

· Call 811 before you dig. This quick call will notify all utilities in your area of your plans to dig. You can also submit an online request. Make sure to do this at least two full business days before you dig. On average, seven utility operators are notified for each request.

· Pre-mark where you plan to dig using white paint, stakes, or flags. Marking the site will help utility locators understand your plans and reduce the chance of project delays if the locator must return to locate additional areas.

· Respect the marks. Carefully hand dig with a shovel within the tolerance zone of 18 inches or greater depending on the pipe size rather than use heavy equipment.

· Don’t rely on old line-locate marks. If you do not dig within 10 business days of having utility lines marked, contact Wyoming 811 again. Line locators will return to remark the lines within two days at no charge.