Coosa Mtn residents say they still lack usable water 16 months after AL Power drained aquifer
Some Shelby County residents report they’ve been dealing with water issues for almost a year and a half. They claim an Alabama Power contractor bored a hole through Coosa Mountain and emptied the aquifer that supplied water to a dozen homes on the mountain. Now they’re fighting the power company to make it right.The power company dug 11 new wells for residents, and while they do have water now, they said it is unusable.The beautiful view is the reason Stuart Holland bought her home on top of Coosa Mountain years ago. But she said the serenity she found there is gone now because the water coming out of her tap is rancid.“Well, it is rotten eggs. It’s a little bit of dirty diaper, depending on the day. It’s just disgusting,” Holland said. It smells like sulfur and iron. So, Holland doesn’t use the water in her house for anything. She goes to the YMCA to shower, uses a laundromat for her clothes, and uses bottled water for everything else. But even with the water not running, the sulfur smell has permeated every part of her home.“The smell is overpowering. It really is. You know, when I brush my teeth in my bathroom, you know, to lean over the sink, it’s just this gas that is coming into me. I have to, you know, I have one of those squirt bottles to rinse my mouth out with, and I don’t dare put the water in my mouth,” Holland said. Peter Adkin lives next door. He said his water has more iron than sulfur. He pours bleach into his well water holding tank regularly, but it still looks dirty.“Brown, crusty. And if you get something to stir down in the bottom, it’s almost like a gel,” Adkin said. A week ago, he paid for his own testing. This report shows 7.75 mg per liter of iron in his water. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that the level should be under .3 mg per liter.“And I don’t feel like we should be the ones having to do this. We didn’t cause this problem and they did. And it’s just on hold and we had to suffer the consequences. This is just, it’s terrible. It almost makes me want to cry,” Adkin said. We reached out to Alabama Power about this issue. Anthony Cook with media relations released this statement:”Alabama Power understands the challenges this situation caused and has restored water, providing new wells to all impacted residents. Each well has undergone extensive testing for water quantity and quality under the supervision of hydrogeologic experts prior to connection. We recently arranged for additional inspections, and our attorneys have communicated with the residents’ legal representation. Since residents have elected to continue litigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Some Shelby County residents report they’ve been dealing with water issues for almost a year and a half. They claim an Alabama Power contractor bored a hole through Coosa Mountain and emptied the aquifer that supplied water to a dozen homes on the mountain.
Now they’re fighting the power company to make it right.
The power company dug 11 new wells for residents, and while they do have water now, they said it is unusable.
The beautiful view is the reason Stuart Holland bought her home on top of Coosa Mountain years ago. But she said the serenity she found there is gone now because the water coming out of her tap is rancid.
“Well, it is rotten eggs. It’s a little bit of dirty diaper, depending on the day. It’s just disgusting,” Holland said.
It smells like sulfur and iron. So, Holland doesn’t use the water in her house for anything. She goes to the YMCA to shower, uses a laundromat for her clothes, and uses bottled water for everything else. But even with the water not running, the sulfur smell has permeated every part of her home.
“The smell is overpowering. It really is. You know, when I brush my teeth in my bathroom, you know, to lean over the sink, it’s just this gas that is coming into me. I have to, you know, I have one of those squirt bottles to rinse my mouth out with, and I don’t dare put the water in my mouth,” Holland said.
Peter Adkin lives next door. He said his water has more iron than sulfur. He pours bleach into his well water holding tank regularly, but it still looks dirty.
“Brown, crusty. And if you get something to stir down in the bottom, it’s almost like a gel,” Adkin said.
A week ago, he paid for his own testing. This report shows 7.75 mg per liter of iron in his water. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that the level should be under .3 mg per liter.
“And I don’t feel like we should be the ones having to do this. We didn’t cause this problem and they did. And it’s just on hold and we had to suffer the consequences. This is just, it’s terrible. It almost makes me want to cry,” Adkin said.
We reached out to Alabama Power about this issue. Anthony Cook with media relations released this statement:
“Alabama Power understands the challenges this situation caused and has restored water, providing new wells to all impacted residents. Each well has undergone extensive testing for water quantity and quality under the supervision of hydrogeologic experts prior to connection. We recently arranged for additional inspections, and our attorneys have communicated with the residents’ legal representation. Since residents have elected to continue litigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”