By Sonny Turner
sonny@athensnews-courier.com
May 08, 2008 09:27 pm
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A Limestone County family says flooding created when a brick home was built years ago in northeastern Limestone County is now so severe they fear it’s a health hazard.
“We’ve had enough and now we’re considering legal action,” said Debbie Stone, who lives six miles east of Interstate 65 on Thach Road. “We believe it is a county problem and they should fix it, but they refuse to do so.”
The problem, county officials say, is three culverts that carry water under the road and into a ditch constructed around the Stone home. During heavy rain, the ditch overflows and floods the Stone house and surrounding property.
“When the home was built, someone filled in the original water flow ditch and built the house on top of that ditch,” said District 1 Commissioner Gary Daly.
“I sympathize with them, but there is nothing I can do about it because it is not on county right-of-way and not caused by the county,” Daly said. “Legally, I can’t touch it. Whoever built the house changed the natural drainage. I feel sorry for them because it is a problem, but it’s not damaging the county road and it’s not a road problem. It’s a personal problem. I’ve advised them that they need to go after the guy who built the house.”
Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Phyllis Kohl has investigated the problem and concluded it could become a health hazard.
“While you report that the floodwaters have not entered the first-floor elevation of your home, the fact that water has entered under the home, rendered the septic drain-field unusable until the ground dries out after a flood and has temporarily flooded the neighbor’s driveway, is a definite problem for you – even a health hazard,” Kohl wrote in a letter to Stone and her husband, Herbert, who live in the house with two children. “This will continue to be a problem for you and for whoever purchases the neighboring home that was abandoned by the previous owner reportedly as a result of this problem.”
Kohl said her investigation shows that flow from 63 acres south of Thach Road is collected in a ditch along the south side of the road and flows towards the east before being carried under the road via three 24-inch culverts just above the Stone home. On the north side of the road, flow from an additional 33 acres is collected in a ditch along the north side of the road and flows towards the east before joining the flow exiting the three culverts under Thach Road.”
The Stones purchased the home from a local Realtor and moved in 17 months ago.
Debbie Stone said she called Daly the day she signed papers to buy the home and asked if the county could fix the drainage problem. She said Daly told her he could and would fix the problem.
Daly said when he determined what was causing the problem, he came to the conclusion it was a problem the county did not create.
“He’s now trying to tell me that because it is on my property, he can’t fix it,” Stone said. “We intend to fill in that ditch. It’s our yard and they can’t tell us we can’t do that.”
Daly said he advised Mrs. Stone that if she fills in the ditch, it will flood the road and could cause her more problems legally.
Stone say the pipe needed to correct the problem would be $50,000, based on estimates she gathered.
“Probably, the only alternative Mr. Stone would be able to implement himself would be to relocate the home and septic system to higher ground further back on the property,” Kohl wrote in her letter. She recommended seeking a grant from the federal Emergency Management Agency’s pre-disaster mitigation program.
Daly said the county is not eligible for the grant because the problem is not caused by the county.
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