Alabama Power drilling leaves mountain community without “water”

Alabama Power drilling leaves mountain community without water

Water gushes from drilling equipment outside of Vandiver, Ala. Residents of the area have been left without water after the drill hit the aquifer their wells drew from. R.E.M. Directional was commissioned to do the drilling on behalf of Alabama Power, to install fiber cable underground. (Photo courtesy Tommy Fish)Tommy Fish

Some residents of Vandiver, a small, mountainous community just east of Birmingham, are now without water, after a project to install fiber cable underground hit the aquifer supplying their wells.

“They’re not sure it can be fixed, and that’s what scares us all,” said Tommy Fish, a resident whose well has been impacted.

Residents in Shelby County filed suit to stop the project last week, but the judge has ordered that the drilling continue.

Alabama Power hired R.E.M. Directional to drill in Coosa Mountain in the northern end of Shelby County and install fiber cable on their existing rights-of-way.

Alyson Tucker, a spokesperson for Alabama Power, said in an email to AL.com that the drilling project is “a vital component to enhancing reliability and service to our customers.”

Fish, one of three plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said residents began to notice issues with their wells around three weeks ago. After a few days of wondering, Fish and another resident traveled to the drilling site, where he said members of the crew said they had previously experienced a “blowout” and water had begun gushing from where they were drilling.

Residents were not informed about the incident prior to this, Fish said.

“About two weeks ago, we learned some residents near Vandiver served by private water wells were experiencing issues with their water source,” Tucker said in an email. “We have been actively communicating with the impacted residents and providing assistance as needed.”

An attorney for R.E.M. Directional did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Fish and the other residents of the community rely on private wells for their water. They’re too far away to connect to a utility’s drinking water system. Currently, eight wells belonging to five homeowners are completely dry, he said, though Fish’s has not completely dried up.

As drilling continues, water will continue to pour out of the aquifer, he said. More residents could be affected as the aquifer continues to lose water.

“As the water table continues to lower, it will affect more people,” Fish said. “It’s growing.”

After Fish and two other residents filed a complaint against R.E.M., Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Kennedy entered a temporary restraining order on Friday, halting drilling. Alabama Power joined the suit later as an intervenor.

But on Tuesday, Kennedy ordered drilling to resume, on a 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week schedule, in order to complete the project as quickly as possible. Alabama Power will also have to provide to the judge a daily status report, and another hearing will be held on Feb. 18.

Bruce Romeo, an attorney representing Fish and the other plaintiffs, said the remaining drilling could take anywhere from three days to three weeks.

In the meantime, Alabama Power and R.E.M. have provided water and other assistance to people whose wells have been affected. That must continue, Kennedy ruled.

Romeo said they would have been in favor of hiring a hydrogeologist to consult prior to resuming drilling. Since that could take weeks or even months, and with no other alternative, the judge opted to allow operations to resume.

Alabama Power and R.E.M. had argued that the best way to address the water issue is to complete the project as quickly as possible, Romeo said.

“Alabama Power is working around the clock to complete the project as quickly as possible,” Tucker said. “Upon completion, we can fully assess any impacted wells and promptly resolve the matter. Alabama Power remains committed to the impacted residents, our customers and communities, and will remain in contact with those affected by this work.”

But the long-term effects to the aquifer are unknown. Fish said there’s no guarantee that Alabama Power and R.E.M. can repair the aquifer. Romeo said it’s also not known if the aquifer can be completely restored or if contamination is a concern.

“We’ll have to see first if they can fix this,” Romeo said. “I’m a little skeptical…We’re very much in the infancy of this.”

And it extends beyond water, Fish said: losing the aquifer could destabilize the ground, which could in turn jeopardize people’s homes.

Above all, Fish said, it’s the uncertainty that frightens residents. Not having access to water jeopardizes the homes they worked so hard for.

“[The provided water] is great for those who haven’t had water, but looking down the road, that’s what worries us,” Fish said. “Are we going to have water tanks forever?”