02-06-2025
Dynamite blasting for data center construction blamed for Newton County woman's ceiling collapse
Neighbors in a Newton County neighborhood say dynamite blasting being done to build a massive data center is damaging their homes.
One homeowner told Channel 2's Tom Regan that their ceiling had collapsed, which could have killed them.
Neighbors also told Regan that they've been getting the runaround when they ask who is supposed to pay for the damage.
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At a home just a quarter mile from the construction site, the owner told Channel 2 Action News that repeated blasting first caused her ceiling to crack, then during a blast one day in April, the ceiling fell in.
'It's been a nightmare,' Patricia Shepard said.
Patricia Shepard told Regan that daily dynamite blasting at a nearby data center construction site is taking a terrible toll, both on her home and her health.
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She said she first noticed cracks in her bedroom ceiling and walls, then a ground-shaking blast broke her window and the ceiling crashing in.
'The blast from the dynamite went off, I heard this thump-thumping,' Patricia Shepard said. 'I could not get into this room, there was so much plaster in front of it.'
Patricia Shepard said the blast caused the ceiling to collapse.
'It could have killed me very easily,' Patricia Shepard told Channel 2 Action News.
Patricia Shepard's sister, Tina, who lives at the house next door, is worried blasting has damaged her well.
'Well is what I'm concerned about,' Tina Shepard said. 'That the dynamite has done something and the well is not producing like it was.'
The 300-acre site is being developed for an Amazon data center.
It mostly sits on rock, so to prepare the site, crews have been using dynamite to blast rock formations everyday, around noon, sometimes more than once a day.
The Shepard sisters say they've spoken to other neighbors, who complained of sinkholes caused by the blasting as well as foundation damage at their homes.
They're worried it's going to get worse. It's also not clear who is supposed to pay for repairs.
'We have been basically given the runaround,' Patricia Shepard said. 'I was more or less told, use your homeowner's insurance. Well, I didn't climb up there with a sledge hammer and do it. I didn't blow up anything outside to do that. They did.'
Channel 2 Action News reached out to the City of Covington, where the construction site is located.
The city said their employees are acting in full compliance with all federal state laws regulating dynamite blasting.
Regan also reached out to the developer and excavation contractor for comment has not heard back.
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