'Tree Street' residents, lawmakers hoping to resolve subsidence project compensation issue

Still pounding away
By JEFF GEARINO - Southwest Wyoming bureau Posted: Sunday, February 21, 2010 3:38 pm


ROCK SPRINGS -- Any legislative relief for the "Tree Street" residents whose homes were damaged by a controversial mine subsidence project in 2007 will come in the form of a budget amendment, rather than a bill, southwest Wyoming lawmakers say.
A similar budget amendment that sought funding for new engineering studies and possible repairs failed during the 2009 session.
The lawmakers had said they might try to change the state's subsidence rules with a bill in an effort to gain a fair settlement from the state after touring many of the damaged homes in January.
A bill would have attempted to amend the stricter state Abandoned Mine Lands guidelines to better match the looser federal guidelines.
"I had a bill drafted but after lots of discussion decided we were better off with another budget amendment," state Rep. Bernadine Craft said last week in an e-mail to the Star-Tribune. "We have huge support, so I am hopeful that we'll be successful in both houses this time."
Craft said budget amendment discussions are scheduled to begin Tuesday.
The 2009 budget amendment sought to divert $2.9 million in AML monies that would normally be used for reclamation and public facility projects. The diverted funds would have paid for repairs to homes and the hiring of a licensed structural engineer to reassess the damaged properties.
More than a dozen homes were damaged during the mine subsidence project that began in late July 2007.
The project was conducted by the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Lands Division. It aimed to free vacant lands in the city so they could be used to build affordable housing.
Becky Kelley, the unofficial spokeswoman for the Tree Street homeowners, said residents welcomed any help they could get. She and homeowner Donna Maynard spent last week in Cheyenne lobbying state lawmakers.
"I'm not sure how the budget amendment will work for us," she said. "I too am waiting for the language from Representative Craft" and other area legislators.
Presence known
At the request of Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo in 2006, the city began discussions with AML officials and Gov. Dave Freudenthal about possibly using AML monies to mitigate lands in the city that had not been looked at for development before because of the old mine voids.
State rules forbid the AML from conducting mitigation subsidence work on undeveloped lands.
The city, however, received special permission from the state to conduct a $2.4 million subsidence pilot project using a new process known as dynamic compaction.
The process involved dropping 25- and 35-ton weights over the undermined areas to collapse the underground mine voids on a vacant tract of land adjacent to the Tree Street neighborhood.
Beginning July 17, 2007, AML contractors dropped the weights from cranes more than 2,300 times over three weeks before homeowners' complaints about damage halted the project.
Homeowners said vibrations from the dynamic compaction raced through the underground mine voids, shaking homes; damaging foundations, ceilings and walls; cracking driveways and causing gaps in windows and doors in nearly 20 Tree Street homes.
The state sent engineers to assess 19 damage claims filed by homeowners under a settlement process established by the AML in 2008.
The state followed with settlement offers based on the engineer's report. But only two homeowners accepted the state's initial offer.
The other Tree Street residents contended the offer didn't come close to providing adequate compensation for needed repairs.
State officials and attorneys representing the homeowners have been engaged in discussions for more than a year trying to finalize the details of a mediation agreement.
A deal is being brokered that would call for the state to retain another geotechnical engineer to reinspect the Tree Street homes.
The engineer would then make an independent determination on whether the damages were caused, in whole or part, by the dynamic compaction project.
Freudenthal has said the state is willing to compensate the claimants up to $275,000 per structure for any damages the engineer finds were caused by the dynamic compaction.
Kelley said she and other Tree Street homeowners will be in Cheyenne lobbying lawmakers again this week.
"We want to continue to make our presence known," she said.
Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com