Letter to Governor from Sen. Stan Cooper

Sen. Cooper sent this to Becky, and said to put it on the blog.

January 20, 2010

Governor Dave Freudenthal
State Capitol Building
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002

Re: Tree Street Folks-Rock Springs

Dear Governor Freudenthal;

I write this letter with a great deal frustration over what appears to be a state governmental bureaucracy that has gone completely “off the rails”. I’m referring to what is happening or maybe it would be better defined by what is not happening to help the Tree Street people of Rock Springs. These folks have been unjustly characterized as a bunch of people just looking to make a bundle of money off of the government and they really have no justifiable claim. Nothing could be further from the truth and I believe, Governor, if you had the opportunity to visit these homes you would readily come to the conclusion that the Tree Street Folks have verifiable and justifiable claims against the state for its actions relating directly back to the Dynamic Compaction project.

These people are convinced, and I agree, that they are being completely ignored by the DEQ. As I understand the system, the DEQ is the agency specifically charged with handling abandoned mine problems and reclamation. The claim I hear from the bureaucracy is that the Tree Street Folks have “lawyer’d up” which seems to be an excuse for them to shut down any action on their part to address the grievances of these people. What else could you expect of these people when they’re lives have been upset, their homes wrecked and they are feeling that they have been abandoned by the very system that was meant to protect them. They are receiving little or no help from state government to address the problems that were of no fault of their own. I’m not even sure that the people in state government really understand the consequences of their actions on these people’s lives because of this ill fated state sponsored project. Do they even understand that because of the states actions that these homes, even if repaired, will most likely be rendered unsalable or at best sold at ridiculously low values? One gets the feeling that the State’s position is; if we all just ignore this issue long enough it will just go away!

We all know that the Dynamic Compaction Project in Rock Springs was ill advised and badly planned. This project has caused a tremendous amount of damage to the homes in the Tree Street District. It doesn’t take a geological engineer to connect the dots between this project and the damage to these homes. If someone drops a (35) ton weight (2200) times on a rock formation that has been under-mined and your house is sitting about (1000) feet away on the same formation there is going to be unintended consequences (damage) to that home. These folks have testified to me that every time that (35) tons hit the ground you could see their homes shutter and shake like an earthquake from the impact.

There is particular concern for an area within the Tree Street District where an approved HUD housing apartment complex is located with (59) elderly, disabled and low income tenants residing. There has been extensive damage to this facility to the point that all the stairwells are cracking and many of the fire doors will no longer close properly in order to halt the progress of a fire within the corridors of these buildings. HUD is not a “happy camper” with the situation and is concerned for the safety of the residence of this complex. The apartment managers are concerned also and there is a possibility that the HUD administrators could shut the place down and put all of these people out on the street. I would hate to think that we could be responsible for something like that happening just because we failed to take action on the problem. The people operating this complex do not have the kind of money that it takes to repair the facility in light of the fact that we’re probably talking about foundation stabilization. One home owner in the area has recently spent $69,000 of their own money to stabilize the foundation of their home so one could imagine what it would cost to do an apartment house.

You have the authority, Governor, to recommend that the Tree Street folks have their grievances addressed by the state and that they be fairly compensated for the damages that were incurred as a result of the state sponsored Dynamic Compaction Project. It’s time that this bureaucratic impasse is lifted and that we get on with the business of assisting these people. AML funds could not be used in a better way or for a better reason and for a purpose for which they were originally intended. According to your budget message submitted with the State Budget Recommendations for the 2011-2012 Biennium Budget there will be $116 M available for AML funding; much of which will not be spent on direct abandoned mine reclamation projects. Why is it not possible to use a fairly small amount of these funds to rectify the damage that has been done to these homes by the Dynamic Compaction Project in Rock Springs?

If there is any way legislatively that I can help move an agenda forward to help these people with their plight, I’ll be happy to do so. Our legislative attempts in the past have met with claims generally attributed to the executive branch that there is a shortage of funds for the existing AML projects. Well maybe it’s time that we divert some of those funds to use for something that they were really intended for. I guess I’m having a difficult time keeping that old saying from rattling around in my head: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”!

Please let me know where the State is on any kind of movement to meet with or address the Tree Street issues.

Sincerely,


Senator Stan Cooper

CC: Senator Marty Martin
Senator John Hastert
Rep. Bill Thompson
Rep. Bernadine Craft
Rep. Stan Blake
Rep. Joe Barbuto
Rep. Allen Jaggi
Rep. Kathy Davison
Tree Street Folks