For the past five months, Kelly Lovell says she's been living in a war zone.
Her street in an older neighborhood of Rock Springs has been overtaken by cement trucks, drilling rigs and heavy construction equipment. The incessant pounding begins in the morning and continues throughout the day, making it nearly impossible to enjoy the peace and quiet of her own home.
Her husband, who works nights for FedEx, struggles to sleep during the day.
Lovell recently took a Friday off work, hoping to enjoy some downtime at home. Instead, she spent the day listening to construction workers pounding outside.
"It was just men pounding," she told Cowboy State Daily. "I can't lay on the couch and watch TV. I can't do anything."
The commotion is part of an ongoing effort to stabilize the ground beneath Rock Springs, a city built over an extensive network of abandoned underground coal mines.
Nucor Drilling has been contracted through the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Division to fill underground mine voids with grout, preventing the ground above them from collapsing.
The work is considered a priority, according to AML program manager Ryan Reed. Reed told Cowboy State Daily in an email the work is to proactively protect homes, public infrastructure and facilities, and commercial buildings from damage caused by ground subsidence associated with the collapse of abandoned underground mine workings.
It's important work, Lovell acknowledges. But after months of noise, limited access to her home and construction equipment crowding her street, she's had enough.
"I just am lit on fire," she said.
She added it's a sentiment that multiple neighbors she has talked to feel.
And while she said she understands the work needs to be done, she wonders why homeowners have so little say in how it affects their daily lives.
"As a homeowner, I should have a say about my home and the work being done over long periods of time," she said.
Living With The Noise
Lovell said when she first heard about the project, she was told it would be short-lived.
"They said it wouldn't be very long," she said. "We have been doing this since May."
The drilling has taken place near her backyard and below the street in front of her home, she said.
The noise is one thing. Getting to and from her house is another.
Heavy equipment and cement trucks occupy the narrow neighborhood streets, leaving residents struggling to navigate around the construction.
"How do we carry groceries to our house if we can't get to our house?" Lovell asked.
The disruption has left her feeling trapped in her own neighborhood.
She understands the construction crews need room to work, but residents need room to live, too.
"You guys want us off our street? Where do you want us to go?" she said.
A week of inconvenience would be one thing, Lovell said. But months of disruption, with seemingly little recourse for homeowners, is another.
"I never asked for this," she said. "If my house falls in a hole, so be it."
She said she's frustrated that the decision to undertake months of work in her neighborhood was made without giving residents a meaningful choice.
"We have no choice in this," she said.
A Six-Month Project
David Reed, a spokesman for Nucor, told Cowboy State Daily the project encompasses about three city blocks and was expected to take six months.
He disputed the timeline Lovell described, saying he didn't believe work began until June.
Reed said residents in the affected area were notified about the project and its expected duration before work began.
Public meetings were also conducted, giving residents an opportunity to hear from engineers and ask questions, he said.
The company has continued distributing flyers to keep residents informed about the work, he added.
Reed said he rarely hears complaints about the company's operations.
"Everybody in the public has been really great," he said.
Letter From Nucor
Lovell provided Cowboy State Daily with a copy of an undated letter from Nucor that outlines the project's anticipated completion date and the challenges associated with working in the neighborhood.
The letter states that the company aims to finish no later than Nov. 25.
"I could never give a definitive date until now due to unknown grout yields and other unforeseen complications," the letter states.
The letter is not signed by a single person but lists the names of Superintendent Daniel Reed, site foreman Matt Givil, project engineer Andrew Arambell and construction manager Tyler Murphree.
The letter lists regular work hours as Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and warns residents that heavy truck traffic will make access difficult.
Parking and space for vehicles coming and going will be "very limited," according to the letter.
Reed acknowledged that the neighborhood's narrow streets present challenges.
“Those streets are so skinny you can barely get a Volkswagen down them,” he said.
Nucor owns a nearby property where residents can park their vehicles if needed, he said. According to the letter viewed by Cowboy State Daily, the company will even tow vehicles there if requested.
And while construction might temporarily limit access, Reed said crews will make accommodations when necessary.
"If there is an emergency, we'll always open up the road," he said.
Though according to the letter work is expected to be completed by Nov. 25, Reed said the company expects to finish the project by the end of the year.
Rock Springs Mayor Max Mickelson told Cowboy State Daily in an email he is scheduled to meet with a concerned resident about the project this week.
The city does not oversee the contracts or direct the work, he said, but he said that doesn’t mean the city doe not have a responsibility to listen to its people.
“I believe it’s important that residents feel heard and that their concerns are taken seriously,” Mickelson said. “When an issue affects our community, I don’t believe our responsibility ends simply because another level of government has jurisdiction. Helping residents navigate different levels of government is part of our responsibility, regardless of which agency administers a particular project.”
What's Beneath Rock Springs
The source of the disruption lies beneath the city, where generations of coal miners carved out an extensive network of tunnels and shafts during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Rock Springs grew alongside the coal industry, with homes, streets and businesses eventually occupying land above former mining operations.
Those abandoned underground workings can pose a danger decades after mining has stopped.
As underground voids deteriorate, the ground above them can shift or collapse, threatening homes, streets and other structures.
“Given our city’s mining history, addressing the potential for subsidence is essential to protecting residents, infrastructure, and property,” Mickelson told Cowboy State Daily.
Reed said there have been incidents in Rock Springs in which homes have begun sinking because of unstable ground.
The work Nucor is performing is intended to prevent that from happening. The work is primarily funded by federal grants, Reed said.
Crews drill into underground mine voids and pump grout into the empty spaces, stabilizing the ground and reducing the risk of subsidence.
The work is part of Wyoming's participation in the federal Abandoned Mine Land program, which was established to address hazards left behind by historic mining operations.
The program focuses on protecting public health, safety and the environment by reclaiming abandoned mine sites and mitigating dangers associated with old mining activity.
In Rock Springs, that means working in established neighborhoods, sometimes just feet from residents' homes.
Reed said the work is necessary, even if it creates temporary headaches for the people living above the mines.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but unfortunately you've got to have inconvenience to make progress," he said.
'We Have No Choice'
Lovell doesn't dispute that Nucor has a job to do.
In fact, she doesn't blame the drilling company for the disruption.
"Nucor is just trying to do their job," she said.
Her frustration is with the larger process that has allowed months of noisy construction to take over her neighborhood, leaving homeowners to deal with the consequences.
She told Cowboy State Daily she wants to know who is responsible for balancing the need to stabilize the ground with the rights of people who live above it.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
