NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County is putting a hold on new data center applications as they consider regulations on how they are built.
That hold came after people who live near a data center site in Newton County say their homes were damaged by dynamite blasting during the build.
As Channel 2 Tom Regan reports, the homeowners say they still haven’t been compensated for the damage.
Neighbors say some of the worst damage from the rock blasting over at the data center site was in Pat Shepard’s home. Most of ceiling fell in a rock blast.
She says she could have been killed.
“There was blast. And shortly after I heard that, I tried to open the door. I could not get through. There was so much plaster and everything on it,” Shepard said.
She says a ground-shattering explosion from the data center site near her home last April sent her bedroom ceiling crashing in.
“The chair I was sitting in was full of chucks of plaster. It would have killed me If I was sitting there,” Shepard said.
The rock blasting is over, and construction is underway of the massive data center. But people who say their homes were damaged by the explosions are still holding the bag.
Homeowner Guy Roos says the ground blasts caused cracks in his walls.
They ain’t going to take the blame for this. ... They already told me they are within the legal limit of the law," he said.
Shepard said she’s reached out to the government and contractors for help repairing the damage but has gotten nowhere.
Someone told her to file an insurance claim.
“They sent me a letter telling me, they didn’t cover anything for blasting. It was probably just the earth that moved here,” Shepard said.
“She not wanting a ton of money, just fix it back,” Shepard’s sister Tina said.
Channel 2 Action News reached out the city of Covington, where the site is located.
They didn’t respond Thursday.
Last year, a city official said construction employees were “acting in full compliance with all federal laws regulating dynamite blasting.”
Shepard says she doesn’t want to go through the expense and hassle of a lawsuit.
She told Regan she will simply plan to live with this as it is.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
TRENDING STORIES:
- Ex-judge accused of punching officer found not guilty
- VIDEO: Unlicensed teen charged after SUV slams into Alpharetta hair salon
- Metro Atlanta animal shelter takes in 15 cats after deputies rescue dozens from alleged hoarder
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]