Rock Springs, Wyo., homeowners await payments after state project damaged houses

By The Associated Press
Posted: 01/02/2010 01:00:00 AM MST


ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. — Some homeowners in Rock Springs are still waiting for the state to reimburse them for property damage they say occurred during a state project more than two years ago.
The state program, called the "Big Drop," is suspected of damaging more than a dozen houses in the Tree Street neighborhood.
For three weeks beginning in late July 2007, the state used cranes to drop 25-ton and 35-ton weights on the ground to collapse underground mine voids beneath a 61-acre parcel of vacant land.
The city government had hoped the project would stabilize the site so it could accommodate affordable housing.
The weights were dropped more than 2,000 times over several weeks before homeowner complaints halted the project.
Becky Kelley and other homeowners say they are still discovering damage to their homes. Kelley said she made her husband cut two large pieces of plywood recently in case a bay window falls out.
"It cracks and pops all the time now . . . and there's some big gaps showing," she said.
The state hasn't agreed on settlements with most of the residents. Kelley said area homeowners are frustrated with the slow pace of the process, but it appeared the problem might be resolved this year.
Kelley said homeowners hope that planned inspections by structural engineers will reveal the full extent of the damage.
Officials with Wyoming's Abandoned Mine Lands Division have said the state will stand by its pledge to repair homes damaged during the project, but only two homeowners have accepted state payment offers.
In October, state officials released a report that stated investigative drilling conducted in various locations within the Tree Street neighborhood showed that a number of factors are contributing to movement in the mine voids.
Factors include irregular roof pillars that are prone to collapse, groundwater fluctuations and previous mitigation and grouting efforts.