this was posted in the Billings Gazette.
JEFF GEARINO Casper Star-Tribune Posted: Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:05 pm
ROCK SPRINGS — For three years, more than a dozen downtown Tree Street residents whose homes were damaged by a controversial mine subsidence project in 2007 have been waiting for the state to pay for repairs to their houses.
During that time, they’ve enlisted the help of anyone who would listen, including area lawmakers who tried unsuccessfully last year to pass legislation that would have upped the amount the state was offering for much-needed repairs.
Lawmakers said Wednesday they’ll take a different approach when the Legislature convenes next month.
Under Wyoming’s strict laws, subsidence mitigation funds administered by the state’s Abandoned Mine Lands Division can only be used on reclamation and publi facility projects, which precludes the agency from buying homes or lots damaged by subsidence projects.
Federal AML guidelines, however, are looser and much more subject to interpretation, said state Rep. Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs.
“We’re going to try and amend the state guidelines to better match the federal guidelines ... then (the state) can’t say all their money is tied up on other projects,” Craft said during a tour of some of the damaged homes with other southwest Wyoming lawmakers on Wednesday.
She noted that the top priority for the AML Division is to protect the health and safety of Wyoming residents.
“If this situation is not health and human safety, then I’m not sure what is. ... It’s amazing to me that somebody hasn’t been hurt yet,” Craft said.
Not bloodthirsty
Craft was the first state lawmaker to see firsthand the damage to Tree Street homes when she visited in December 2008. Stunned by the extent of the damage and the state’s “lackluster” response, she joined other southwest Wyoming lawmakers and sponsored a $2.8 million bill amendment during the 2009 legislative session that aimed to provide more money for repairs to houses damaged from the dynamic compaction.
The measure allocated an initial $65,000 for new engineering inspections of damaged homes, but the funding never made it into the final bill.
Craft said she’s been disappointed in how the state has handled the situation. She noted that the state is able to use AML funds to fund new public facilities such as the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources, but hasn’t been able to help the Tree Street homeowners.
“The state portrays these poor homeowners as bloodthirsty people only out for money,” she said. “And in reality, they’re not that at all. They just want their homes fixed. And I feel this may be the only way we’re going to get these dollars.”
Unintended damage
At the request of Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo, the city began discussions with AML officials and Gov. Dave Freudenthal in 2006 about possibly using AML money to mitigate some lands within the city that had not been scrutinized for development before because of old mine voids.
State rules forbid the AML from conducting subsidence work on undeveloped lands, but the city received special permission to try a new subsidence technique on a tract near the Tree Street neighborhood.
City officials settled on an 840-acre site containing 14 tracts of undeveloped land in the downtown area that seemed ideal for affordable housing.
On paper, the $2.4 million pilot project seemed like a good idea.
The city and state agreed to take a proven reclamation technique used widely back East known as dynamic compaction — which involved dropping 25- and 35-ton weights over undermined areas to collapse the underground mine voids — and use it on the undeveloped land in Rock Springs.
Engineering studies indicated that homes in the few neighborhoods surrounding the project site wou.d not be damaged by the seismic vibrations resulting from dropping the multiton weights.
For three weeks beginning July 17, 2007, AML contractors using cranes dropped the weights about 2,270 times.
The state initially reported success in early results, but a week into the project officials began hearing complaints from homeowners in the Tree Street area. Residents told AML officials that the seismic vibrations caused damage, or may have accelerated ongoing subsidence so that damage occurred much sooner than it would otherwise have.
At a contentious meeting in mid-August 2007 shortly after the project was halted, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality eirector John Corra promised residents that the agency would pay for all repairs to homes damaged by the dynamic compaction.
But homeowners believed the state’s first settlement offers in December 2008 — which were based on a state-contracted engineer’s assessment of the damage and repair/cost estimates — weren’t nearly enough to adequately compensate for the needed repair work. Only two homeowners accepted the state’s initial offer.
Craft said she intends to draft a House bill that would amend the state AML guidelines to mirror federal rules. She hopes the bill might come out of the House Rules Committee or perhaps the Minerals Committee.
“We’ll have to convince two-thirds of the House, or 40 members, to hear it in a nonbudget year,” she said.
Contact Jeff Gearino at gearino@tribcsp.com or 307-875-5359.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A thank you from Sen. Cooper
Please thank everyone for helping out on the tour and showing us the damage in their homes. I will tell you that I really had my eyesopened up on this issue and will work towards trying to get something resolved for you folks.
Stan
Stan
Lawmakers tour homes damaged by 2007 dynamic compaction project 'I am so astonished'
By Jeff Gearino Star-Tribune staff writer Posted: Thursday, January 14, 2010 12:15 am
ROCK SPRINGS -- Sen. Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer, watches as Ash Street resident Ron Child takes a golf ball and sets it down on his home's hardwood floor. It rolls directly to the northwest corner of the room.
Child sets the ball on the dining room table, kitchen cabinet and coffee table. The ball does the same thing, rolling in the same direction. It's not an illusion.
"The problem is ... how do you fix that?" Child asks about his sloping floor.
Child's home was damaged in 2007 along with a slew of others located in the downtown neighborhood known as "Tree Street" during an ill-fated mine subsidence pilot project.
The project, conducted by the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Lands Division, included a controversial process known as dynamic compaction.
Child and several other Tree Street homeowners have been battling state government over the project -- and the state's first settlement offer to pay for the damage -- for more than three years.
A handful of southwest Wyoming state legislators including Cooper toured more than a dozen homes and a nearby apartment complex Wednesday to get first-hand looks at the damage caused by the project known locally as the "Big Drop."
Lawmakers were stunned by what they saw.
"I am so astonished at the amount of damage in these houses ... it just set me back completely," Cooper said.
"We really need to get this resolved at the state level, but it sounds like we're at an impasse now," he continued. "These folks are between a rock and a hard place and it's just a really unfair situation for them to be in."
The state and most Tree Street residents have yet to reach monetary settlements for the damage and homeowners said Wednesday they continue to be frustrated with the slow pace of the process.
"We've waited so long ... I think some of these houses are now beyond repair," said Donna Maynard. Her Ash Street home sits directly across from the 61-acre project site.
Maynard told lawmakers her house is literally splitting apart at the seams as a result of the project.
Windows sit crooked with broken seals, the skylight and hot tub leak, cracks line many of the walls and ceilings, outside fences lean and a few sinkholes have opened in her yard.
"I'm just generally disgusted," Maynard said. "Nobody wants to live up here anymore. They should just tear down all these houses and just turn it into a park up here."
Affordable housing
Many of the homes in Rock Springs were built around and on top of old coal mines, which were developed in this central Sweetwater County city in the 1860s to supply coal to the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Tree Street neighborhood sits over three different coal mines that lie at two different depths. The mines were all closed and abandoned in the 1920s.
Spurred by a long search for affordable housing, Rock Springs officials selected an undeveloped tract of land in 2007 as the site of a $2.4 million subsidence mitigation project. The tract sits adjacent to the Tree Street neighborhood.
A key component of the project was the use of a pilot technique known as dynamic compaction. The process involved dropping 25- and 35-ton weights on a portion of the tract to collapse the underground mine voids.
For three weeks beginning July 17, 2007, cranes dropped the weights more than 2,200 times before AML officials called off the project.
Homeowners said the shock waves from the ground-pounding reverberated through the neighborhood, cracking foundations and driveways, opening sinkholes in yards and causing cracks to walls, floors and windows among other damage.
The homeowners believe the state's first settlement offers in December 2008 -- which were based on a state-contracted engineer's survey of the damage and repair cost/estimates -- won't adequately compensate for the needed repair work.
Some residents said they are continuing to suffer damage to homes years after the project, including new cracks to ceilings, walls and driveways, gaps in windows, slanting floors and subsidence holes among others.
Wyoming AML Division officials have repeatedly said the state will stand by its initial pledge to repair homes damaged from the project. State officials are expected to base their next settlement offers on the new inspections.
The reinspections come at the request of state lawmakers including Rep. Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs, who attempted to allocate funding for the new engineers' assessments during the 2008 Legislature.
Craft and other county representatives sponsored a $2.8 million bill during the session that aimed to provide homeowners with more money for repairs to houses damaged from the dynamic compaction.
The measure allocated an initial $65,000 for the engineers' inspections, but the funding never made it into the final bill. AML officials and residents continued to negotiate last year on a new agreement that would allow the reinspections.
Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com
ROCK SPRINGS -- Sen. Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer, watches as Ash Street resident Ron Child takes a golf ball and sets it down on his home's hardwood floor. It rolls directly to the northwest corner of the room.
Child sets the ball on the dining room table, kitchen cabinet and coffee table. The ball does the same thing, rolling in the same direction. It's not an illusion.
"The problem is ... how do you fix that?" Child asks about his sloping floor.
Child's home was damaged in 2007 along with a slew of others located in the downtown neighborhood known as "Tree Street" during an ill-fated mine subsidence pilot project.
The project, conducted by the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Lands Division, included a controversial process known as dynamic compaction.
Child and several other Tree Street homeowners have been battling state government over the project -- and the state's first settlement offer to pay for the damage -- for more than three years.
A handful of southwest Wyoming state legislators including Cooper toured more than a dozen homes and a nearby apartment complex Wednesday to get first-hand looks at the damage caused by the project known locally as the "Big Drop."
Lawmakers were stunned by what they saw.
"I am so astonished at the amount of damage in these houses ... it just set me back completely," Cooper said.
"We really need to get this resolved at the state level, but it sounds like we're at an impasse now," he continued. "These folks are between a rock and a hard place and it's just a really unfair situation for them to be in."
The state and most Tree Street residents have yet to reach monetary settlements for the damage and homeowners said Wednesday they continue to be frustrated with the slow pace of the process.
"We've waited so long ... I think some of these houses are now beyond repair," said Donna Maynard. Her Ash Street home sits directly across from the 61-acre project site.
Maynard told lawmakers her house is literally splitting apart at the seams as a result of the project.
Windows sit crooked with broken seals, the skylight and hot tub leak, cracks line many of the walls and ceilings, outside fences lean and a few sinkholes have opened in her yard.
"I'm just generally disgusted," Maynard said. "Nobody wants to live up here anymore. They should just tear down all these houses and just turn it into a park up here."
Affordable housing
Many of the homes in Rock Springs were built around and on top of old coal mines, which were developed in this central Sweetwater County city in the 1860s to supply coal to the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Tree Street neighborhood sits over three different coal mines that lie at two different depths. The mines were all closed and abandoned in the 1920s.
Spurred by a long search for affordable housing, Rock Springs officials selected an undeveloped tract of land in 2007 as the site of a $2.4 million subsidence mitigation project. The tract sits adjacent to the Tree Street neighborhood.
A key component of the project was the use of a pilot technique known as dynamic compaction. The process involved dropping 25- and 35-ton weights on a portion of the tract to collapse the underground mine voids.
For three weeks beginning July 17, 2007, cranes dropped the weights more than 2,200 times before AML officials called off the project.
Homeowners said the shock waves from the ground-pounding reverberated through the neighborhood, cracking foundations and driveways, opening sinkholes in yards and causing cracks to walls, floors and windows among other damage.
The homeowners believe the state's first settlement offers in December 2008 -- which were based on a state-contracted engineer's survey of the damage and repair cost/estimates -- won't adequately compensate for the needed repair work.
Some residents said they are continuing to suffer damage to homes years after the project, including new cracks to ceilings, walls and driveways, gaps in windows, slanting floors and subsidence holes among others.
Wyoming AML Division officials have repeatedly said the state will stand by its initial pledge to repair homes damaged from the project. State officials are expected to base their next settlement offers on the new inspections.
The reinspections come at the request of state lawmakers including Rep. Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs, who attempted to allocate funding for the new engineers' assessments during the 2008 Legislature.
Craft and other county representatives sponsored a $2.8 million bill during the session that aimed to provide homeowners with more money for repairs to houses damaged from the dynamic compaction.
The measure allocated an initial $65,000 for the engineers' inspections, but the funding never made it into the final bill. AML officials and residents continued to negotiate last year on a new agreement that would allow the reinspections.
Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Pictures of Kelly Residence
This picture is under the cabnets. Notice the screws.
This picture of the crack gauge outside on the retaining wall. Notice that it's almost to 5, but we have no movement!
Picture of the Shafe Residence.
These are pictures of the Shafe Residence.
This is a picture of the entry into the kitchen. The log end fell out.
This is a picture of the wall in one of the bedrooms that is bowing.
.JPG)
This picture is of the front window. The snow was blown in by the wind.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Owners of subsidence-damaged homes hope for resolution this year-STILL WAITING
By JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau Posted: Friday, January 1, 2010 12:55 am
ROCK SPRINGS -- A few months ago, Becky Kelley made husband Weldon cut two large pieces of plywood as a just-in-case measure for her beleaguered kitchen.
Just in case her big bay window falls out.
"It cracks and pops all the time now ... and there's a some big gaps showing," Kelley said in an interview last week. "I'm really afraid it's just going to fall right out at some point."
It has been more than three years after a controversial subsidence project known as the "Big Drop" damaged Kelley's and more than a dozen other homes in the city's "Tree Street" neighborhood.
The state and most residents have yet to reach monetary settlements for the damage, and Kelley said homeowners in the area continue to be frustrated with the slow pace of the process. But there's hope for resolution in 2010.
Kelley said homeowners are pinning their hopes on planned new inspections by structural engineers in the coming year that they hope will finally reveal the true extent of the damage caused by the controversial ground-pounding project.
In the meantime, many homeowners including Kelley are still seeing new damage appear from the ill-fated, 2007 mine subsidence project.
"If they wait another year to fix this mess, I'm not sure my house will still be standing," she said. "The ground is still moving all the time ... and we're still seeing damage."
The Tree Street homeowners have been battling state government over the mine subsidence projects -- and the state's first settlement offers -- for more than three years.
Wyoming Abandoned Mine Lands Division officials have repeatedly said the state will stand by its initial pledge to repair homes damaged from the project.
State officials are expected to base their next settlement offers on the new inspections, if an agreement can be reached with homeowners.
New inspections?
The reinspections come at the behest of state lawmakers, who attempted to allocate funding for the new engineers' assessments during the 2008 Legislature.
Rep. Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs, and other county lawmakers sponsored a $2.8 million bill in a budget amendment during the session that aimed to provide homeowners more money for repairs to houses damaged from the project.
The measure allocated an initial $65,000 for the state to contract with a structural engineer to reassess the damage to homes in the area.
Though the funding never made it into the final bill, AML officials and residents continued to negotiate through 2009 on a new agreement that would allow state engineers to reinspect the homes, with an eye toward making new settlement offers to homeowners.
The homeowners believe the state's first settlement offers in December 2008 -- which were based on a state-contracted engineer's survey of the damage and repair/cost estimates -- won't adequately compensate for the needed repair work.
Several residents said they are still continuing to suffer damage to homes years after the project, including new cracks to ceilings, walls and driveways; gaps in windows and doors; slanting floors; and the subsidence holes, among others.
The 2007 dynamic compaction project was spurred by the city's long search for affordable housing.
City officials had been working for years to free up vacant lands within city limits that could not be developed for housing because they were located over old, unsafe underground mine voids.
For three weeks beginning in late July 2007, cranes pounded the ground with 25-ton and 35-ton weights to collapse the underground mine voids within a 61-acre tract of vacant land bordering the Tree Street area.
The huge weights were dropped more than 2,000 times before homeowner complaints halted the project several weeks later. Residents said the shock waves from the ground pounding shook houses, accelerated ongoing subsidence and severely damaged most homes in the area.
The state sent in engineers to assess 19 damage claims filed by homeowners under a settlement process established by the AML Division in 2008.
The state followed up with settlement offers based on the engineers' reports, but only two homeowners accepted the state's initial offers.
Big Lift
One frustrated homeowner decided to begin repairs and foot the bill this year, until an agreement can be reached concerning payments for damages.
The Big Drop subsidence project damaged the stately, historic Pine Street home of Karla and Dennis McAffee in downtown Rock Springs. The couple used a "Big Lift" solution to try to fix some of it in October.
A Utah contractor specializing in the installation of foundation support systems used a hydraulic lift to raise the north front and east side of the house in an effort to better stabilize it.
Karla McAffee said engineers were concerned about the structural safety of her damaged home and wanted to complete the project before the onset of winter.
The house was slumping on the east-side fireplace wall, and the Big Lift raised the front and side of the house several inches off the ground to make it more level.
McAffee said the family spent more than $65,000 on the repair project. She said engineers are planning another Big Lift -- possibly this year -- to stabilize the back end of the home that was built in the 1920s.
Also in October, state officials unveiled findings from investigative drilling conducted in various locations within the Tree Street neighborhood that aimed to better determine what's actually happening in the abandoned underground mine shafts and voids.
Geological engineers said there are a number of factors contributing to what's causing movement in the mine voids. Those factors include irregular roof pillars that are prone to collapse, groundwater fluctuations, and previous mitigation and grouting efforts.
Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at
ROCK SPRINGS -- A few months ago, Becky Kelley made husband Weldon cut two large pieces of plywood as a just-in-case measure for her beleaguered kitchen.
Just in case her big bay window falls out.
"It cracks and pops all the time now ... and there's a some big gaps showing," Kelley said in an interview last week. "I'm really afraid it's just going to fall right out at some point."
It has been more than three years after a controversial subsidence project known as the "Big Drop" damaged Kelley's and more than a dozen other homes in the city's "Tree Street" neighborhood.
The state and most residents have yet to reach monetary settlements for the damage, and Kelley said homeowners in the area continue to be frustrated with the slow pace of the process. But there's hope for resolution in 2010.
Kelley said homeowners are pinning their hopes on planned new inspections by structural engineers in the coming year that they hope will finally reveal the true extent of the damage caused by the controversial ground-pounding project.
In the meantime, many homeowners including Kelley are still seeing new damage appear from the ill-fated, 2007 mine subsidence project.
"If they wait another year to fix this mess, I'm not sure my house will still be standing," she said. "The ground is still moving all the time ... and we're still seeing damage."
The Tree Street homeowners have been battling state government over the mine subsidence projects -- and the state's first settlement offers -- for more than three years.
Wyoming Abandoned Mine Lands Division officials have repeatedly said the state will stand by its initial pledge to repair homes damaged from the project.
State officials are expected to base their next settlement offers on the new inspections, if an agreement can be reached with homeowners.
New inspections?
The reinspections come at the behest of state lawmakers, who attempted to allocate funding for the new engineers' assessments during the 2008 Legislature.
Rep. Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs, and other county lawmakers sponsored a $2.8 million bill in a budget amendment during the session that aimed to provide homeowners more money for repairs to houses damaged from the project.
The measure allocated an initial $65,000 for the state to contract with a structural engineer to reassess the damage to homes in the area.
Though the funding never made it into the final bill, AML officials and residents continued to negotiate through 2009 on a new agreement that would allow state engineers to reinspect the homes, with an eye toward making new settlement offers to homeowners.
The homeowners believe the state's first settlement offers in December 2008 -- which were based on a state-contracted engineer's survey of the damage and repair/cost estimates -- won't adequately compensate for the needed repair work.
Several residents said they are still continuing to suffer damage to homes years after the project, including new cracks to ceilings, walls and driveways; gaps in windows and doors; slanting floors; and the subsidence holes, among others.
The 2007 dynamic compaction project was spurred by the city's long search for affordable housing.
City officials had been working for years to free up vacant lands within city limits that could not be developed for housing because they were located over old, unsafe underground mine voids.
For three weeks beginning in late July 2007, cranes pounded the ground with 25-ton and 35-ton weights to collapse the underground mine voids within a 61-acre tract of vacant land bordering the Tree Street area.
The huge weights were dropped more than 2,000 times before homeowner complaints halted the project several weeks later. Residents said the shock waves from the ground pounding shook houses, accelerated ongoing subsidence and severely damaged most homes in the area.
The state sent in engineers to assess 19 damage claims filed by homeowners under a settlement process established by the AML Division in 2008.
The state followed up with settlement offers based on the engineers' reports, but only two homeowners accepted the state's initial offers.
Big Lift
One frustrated homeowner decided to begin repairs and foot the bill this year, until an agreement can be reached concerning payments for damages.
The Big Drop subsidence project damaged the stately, historic Pine Street home of Karla and Dennis McAffee in downtown Rock Springs. The couple used a "Big Lift" solution to try to fix some of it in October.
A Utah contractor specializing in the installation of foundation support systems used a hydraulic lift to raise the north front and east side of the house in an effort to better stabilize it.
Karla McAffee said engineers were concerned about the structural safety of her damaged home and wanted to complete the project before the onset of winter.
The house was slumping on the east-side fireplace wall, and the Big Lift raised the front and side of the house several inches off the ground to make it more level.
McAffee said the family spent more than $65,000 on the repair project. She said engineers are planning another Big Lift -- possibly this year -- to stabilize the back end of the home that was built in the 1920s.
Also in October, state officials unveiled findings from investigative drilling conducted in various locations within the Tree Street neighborhood that aimed to better determine what's actually happening in the abandoned underground mine shafts and voids.
Geological engineers said there are a number of factors contributing to what's causing movement in the mine voids. Those factors include irregular roof pillars that are prone to collapse, groundwater fluctuations, and previous mitigation and grouting efforts.
Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Legislators inspect 'tree street' homes in RS
By Johnny Shafe-Green River Star Newspaper
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 6:06 PM MST
More than 28 months have passed since the weights stopped falling on a pilot dynamic compaction project near the “tree street” homes on the southwest side of Rock Springs.Families in 12 houses and the Springview Manor apartments still await a decision by the state on the damages to their residences caused by the alternating drops of a 25 and 35-ton weights near their homes in order to create more developable land.Dynamic compaction is a process described by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality as “the process of repeatedly dropping heavy weights on the ground in a systematic pattern to collapse underground mine voids and compact rubble zones remaining from historic underground mining activities.” The entire aim of the project was “protecting the public from the effects of coal mine subsidence.”The project, overseen by the Abandoned Mine Lands division of the DEQ, was halted Aug. 6, 2007, after concerns from residents arose when damage began to appear in their homes after work began.
Five months later, John Corra, director of the DEQ, announced that AML plans for other tracts of land in the area selected for mine subsidence mitigation by dynamic compaction were being redrawn to exclude the process altogether.
Amidst talk and bureaucratic processes, the residents have yet to receive closure on the botched AML project.
The residents recently banded together again, putting on an open house-style tour for Rep. Bill Thompson, Stan Blake and Bernadine Craft, in addition to Sen. John Hastert and the media.
The purpose of the tour was to show the continuing damage to the homes as the ground beneath continues to shift.
The attorney general’s office wants to hire another engineer; a structural engineer this time. Harry Moore, the engineer previously designated to assess the damages to the houses in 2008 was a street engineer.
The 2008 assessment was the last time the residents received a settlement offer.
The point of contention between the state and the residents is the AG’s desire to make the engineer’s assessment a binding agreement.
The residents are being asked to agree to a reimbursement total without knowing what the dollar amount would be, instead of conducting the assessment and then offering a settlement.
“I’m embarrassed on how we’re handling this on the state level,” Thompson said. “I’m really frustrated about this whole ordeal.”
“I was appalled at the conditions of the homes these people have to live in, as well as the treatment of these people by the state.” Blake said of the tour of the affected houses. “It’s unacceptable.”
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 6:06 PM MST
More than 28 months have passed since the weights stopped falling on a pilot dynamic compaction project near the “tree street” homes on the southwest side of Rock Springs.Families in 12 houses and the Springview Manor apartments still await a decision by the state on the damages to their residences caused by the alternating drops of a 25 and 35-ton weights near their homes in order to create more developable land.Dynamic compaction is a process described by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality as “the process of repeatedly dropping heavy weights on the ground in a systematic pattern to collapse underground mine voids and compact rubble zones remaining from historic underground mining activities.” The entire aim of the project was “protecting the public from the effects of coal mine subsidence.”The project, overseen by the Abandoned Mine Lands division of the DEQ, was halted Aug. 6, 2007, after concerns from residents arose when damage began to appear in their homes after work began.
Five months later, John Corra, director of the DEQ, announced that AML plans for other tracts of land in the area selected for mine subsidence mitigation by dynamic compaction were being redrawn to exclude the process altogether.
Amidst talk and bureaucratic processes, the residents have yet to receive closure on the botched AML project.
The residents recently banded together again, putting on an open house-style tour for Rep. Bill Thompson, Stan Blake and Bernadine Craft, in addition to Sen. John Hastert and the media.
The purpose of the tour was to show the continuing damage to the homes as the ground beneath continues to shift.
The attorney general’s office wants to hire another engineer; a structural engineer this time. Harry Moore, the engineer previously designated to assess the damages to the houses in 2008 was a street engineer.
The 2008 assessment was the last time the residents received a settlement offer.
The point of contention between the state and the residents is the AG’s desire to make the engineer’s assessment a binding agreement.
The residents are being asked to agree to a reimbursement total without knowing what the dollar amount would be, instead of conducting the assessment and then offering a settlement.
“I’m embarrassed on how we’re handling this on the state level,” Thompson said. “I’m really frustrated about this whole ordeal.”
“I was appalled at the conditions of the homes these people have to live in, as well as the treatment of these people by the state.” Blake said of the tour of the affected houses. “It’s unacceptable.”
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
News Broadcast Thrusday Dec. 3, 2009
Here is a news broadcast that was done on Thursday December 3, 2009.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
State needs to settle "BIG DROP CLAIMS"
written by the editor of the casper star tribune. please feel free to leave comments.
It's been more than two years since a ground-pounding subsidence project in Rock Springs was halted by Wyoming's Abandoned Mine Lands Division after nearly two dozen homeowners complained about damage.
The state has yet to settle with residents of the Tree Street neighborhood, where 25- and 35-ton weights were dropped more than 2,000 times on a nearby tract of unoccupied land. The "dynamic compaction" experiment (known in Rock Springs as "The Big Drop") was part of a pilot project intended to stabilize the land for housing construction.
Houses in the neighborhood were built over old underground coal mine voids. Engineering studies show that there continues to be movement in the old mine workings beneath the neighborhood and the subsidence risk in the area remains high.
Days after the dynamic compaction project began, residents began complaining that the shock waves from the dropped weights was shaking houses, cracking driveways and foundations, accelerating ongoing subsidence and severely damaging their houses.
The Abandoned Mine Lands Division offered to pay for damages that an Evanston-based engineer determined may have been caused by the ground pounding. But the offers were much lower than what it would cost to actually repair the homes' subsidence damage, and most homeowners refused the settlement.
They are amazed that nothing has been done to fix their homes, and so are we. "We're not just frustrated .. we're way beyond frustrated at this point," said Ash Street resident Donna Maynard.
It has taken the state far too long to settle this issue. The money exists to make these homeowners whole, and it should be used for that purpose because that's precisely what it was intended to do: address problems caused by old, abandoned mines.
Coal companies contribute 35 cents for every ton of coal extracted from surface mines and 15 cents per ton from underground mines to fund mine reclamation projects. Over the past 20 years, Wyoming's AML has spent more than $80 million on various grouting and excavation-and-backfill mine reclamation projects across Rock Springs.
The AML Division has been conducting subsurface investigations since the fall of 2007 to determine if any further mitigation measures are required. Engineers resumed drilling in the neighborhood in September to gather additional data, and will continue through December.
AML Administrator Rick Chancellor said the agency hopes to have a negotiated agreement soon with the homeowners that should lead the way to new inspections. That's the first hopeful sign we've seen in the past year.
It will likely be difficult to prove that dynamic compaction directly caused all of the damage to houses. But there's no question that mine subsidence has badly damaged a significant number of homes in the neighborhood, and the risks of further damage are still great. It's an issue the state can't afford to ignore.
Members of the House this year unanimously passed a budget amendment that would have allocated $2.8 million to provide relief to the homeowners, but it was rejected by the Senate. The AML Division did agree, at the behest of state lawmakers, to redo the engineering inspections with the goal of making new compensation offers.
It's time for the state to open up the purse strings and get this accomplished. Money should not be an issue.
It's been more than two years since a ground-pounding subsidence project in Rock Springs was halted by Wyoming's Abandoned Mine Lands Division after nearly two dozen homeowners complained about damage.
The state has yet to settle with residents of the Tree Street neighborhood, where 25- and 35-ton weights were dropped more than 2,000 times on a nearby tract of unoccupied land. The "dynamic compaction" experiment (known in Rock Springs as "The Big Drop") was part of a pilot project intended to stabilize the land for housing construction.
Houses in the neighborhood were built over old underground coal mine voids. Engineering studies show that there continues to be movement in the old mine workings beneath the neighborhood and the subsidence risk in the area remains high.
Days after the dynamic compaction project began, residents began complaining that the shock waves from the dropped weights was shaking houses, cracking driveways and foundations, accelerating ongoing subsidence and severely damaging their houses.
The Abandoned Mine Lands Division offered to pay for damages that an Evanston-based engineer determined may have been caused by the ground pounding. But the offers were much lower than what it would cost to actually repair the homes' subsidence damage, and most homeowners refused the settlement.
They are amazed that nothing has been done to fix their homes, and so are we. "We're not just frustrated .. we're way beyond frustrated at this point," said Ash Street resident Donna Maynard.
It has taken the state far too long to settle this issue. The money exists to make these homeowners whole, and it should be used for that purpose because that's precisely what it was intended to do: address problems caused by old, abandoned mines.
Coal companies contribute 35 cents for every ton of coal extracted from surface mines and 15 cents per ton from underground mines to fund mine reclamation projects. Over the past 20 years, Wyoming's AML has spent more than $80 million on various grouting and excavation-and-backfill mine reclamation projects across Rock Springs.
The AML Division has been conducting subsurface investigations since the fall of 2007 to determine if any further mitigation measures are required. Engineers resumed drilling in the neighborhood in September to gather additional data, and will continue through December.
AML Administrator Rick Chancellor said the agency hopes to have a negotiated agreement soon with the homeowners that should lead the way to new inspections. That's the first hopeful sign we've seen in the past year.
It will likely be difficult to prove that dynamic compaction directly caused all of the damage to houses. But there's no question that mine subsidence has badly damaged a significant number of homes in the neighborhood, and the risks of further damage are still great. It's an issue the state can't afford to ignore.
Members of the House this year unanimously passed a budget amendment that would have allocated $2.8 million to provide relief to the homeowners, but it was rejected by the Senate. The AML Division did agree, at the behest of state lawmakers, to redo the engineering inspections with the goal of making new compensation offers.
It's time for the state to open up the purse strings and get this accomplished. Money should not be an issue.
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