South Arlington residents already subjected to deafening daily noise from construction at Arlington’s water treatment plant say vibrations from the pounding of the pile drivers are damaging their homes.
Cracks have spread across the walls and ceilings of Gloria Bustamante’s 65-year-old house. Patched cracks on the basement floor and exterior of Tamara Severe’s home have reopened.
“I buy this house in the wrong time, the wrong place,” said Bustamante, who has lived on a cul de sac above the treatment plant for two years.
It’s been hard for Bustamante, who works at night, to sleep since pile driving started at the plant in April. The pounding starts at 7 a.m. each weekday and lasts for 12 hours.
The piles are needed to support the weight of the plant’s expansion, said Phil Loar, the plant’s community resource official. The upgrade, required by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, must be completed by 2012, he added.
Plant workers haven’t given up hope of reducing the noise, Loar said. So far, all they can offer neighbors are headphones and sound-reducing blankets to cover windows.
Nine residents have submitted claims for damages, said Karen Hill, the county claims specialist handling the case. Seven are for cracks or doors that no longer hang properly. One is for a collapsed ceiling and another is for emotional distress.
Hill sends the claims to the two contractors performing the work, whose insurance companies are responsible for dealing with them, she said. A spokesman for Alberici Constructors directed requests for information back to the county. A Fru-Con Construction official did not return a call seeking comment.
Don Vannoy, a civil engineering professor at the University of Maryland, said cracks in the older homes’ floor or plaster are unlikely to have been caused by pile driving. If they were, more damage, like broken windows, would have occurred, he said.
Residents may have to wait until construction finishes before the claims will be settled, Hill said.
The pile driving is expected to stop in December and resume in 2009, Loar said. Construction is expected to be complete in late 2010, he said.
