A woman who answered the phone Thursday at Four Winds’ South Dakota headquarters declined to comment. A foreman on the Soulard project who spoke to the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday could not be reached Thursday.

AT&T spokeswoman Katie Nagus took no questions but emailed a statement saying AT&T requires its contractors to follow all laws and licensing requirements.

“Because we were aware the permit was pending and had not yet been issued for the project in Soulard, we had not instructed our contractor to begin work on this project,” the statement said. Nagus referred questions about its contractors to Brian Equi, a lawyer for MasTec.

He said he could not comment.

John Lansford, executive director for the Missouri One Call center (1-800-DIG-RITE), said MasTec did notify the organization of the project on Jan. 30, but it was not clear if utility lines were marked or if they were covered with snow.

Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editor, Mandy St. Amand. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.