Stay safe and keep your family safe this spring. April is National Safe Digging Month, a time when many homeowners, residents, contractors and excavators dig, excavate, build, landscape and garden. If there are plans to dig or excavate on your property, whether it’s for fence posts, trees, gardens, home additions or construction, always Call 811 to get your utility lines located and marked first.

National Safe Digging Month is formally recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and has traditionally earned the support from nearly every state governor across the country. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and the MLGW Board of Commissioners have issued proclamations declaring April 2023 Safe Digging Month.

Safe Digging Month reminds residents and homeowners to plan ahead. Call 811, the national safe digging hotline, before a shovel is turned, a backhoe begins to dig or a cross-bore starts drilling. MLGW, cable and phone companies will come out and mark your utility and gas lines for free. Always allow 72 hours (three business days) for your lines to be marked before any digging. Take photos of the markings for your records but call 811 again for any future digs. A national survey revealed that 42 percent of homeowners planning to dig each year won’t call 811, putting their families, neighbors and communities at risk.

Always check to make sure your contractors have called 811 and had your lines marked before you allow them to begin a job that involves digging. Striking an unmarked underground gas line or electrical line can be deadly, and utility lines could be at any depth. Don’t go BOOM! For more details about Safe Digging Month, visit mlgw.com/811. For more information about Tennessee One Call, Call 811 or the Common Ground Alliance visit tennessee811.com/ or commongroundalliance.com.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving the residents of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee since 1939. MLGW consistently provides customers with rates that are amongst the lowest in the nation and stewards a water supply from artesian wells that is minimally treated. Actively engaged in promoting the prosperity of Memphis and Shelby County, MLGW supports the seven local chambers in its service area and makes doing business with local, minority- and women-owned business a priority. Deeply rooted in the community, its employees generously donate time and money in support of bettering the Greater Memphis area.