Hendersonville neighborhood concerned by blasting at nearby construction site

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Neighbors said their homes have been rocked every day for months by blasting at a nearby construction site.

Blasting is being done at the Norman Farms subdivision to clear a hill for new homes to be built, but people who already live in the area said their foundations are being damaged by the blasting.

Julie Ricciardi is one of the many neighbors that started noticing cracks in their walls just a few days after the blasting started. Almost two months later, she said the cracks have spread inside their newly painted bedroom. The front porch is even starting to separate from the house due to the cracks.

“There are people with cracks in their fireplaces,” Ricciardi said. “There’s just cracks straight down the middle of them, people with foundation issues, cracks coming off the foundations of their homes.”

Ricciardi said the blasting shakes their home and startled them when it first started.

Engineers have told them it could cost up between $10,000 to $50,000 to repair the damage.

“It feels like an earthquake,” Ricciardi said. “Now all of our concerns go to, ‘Oh, every time there is a blast are we going to have another crack in our home?’”

Ronnie Rogers lives down the road from Ricciardi and said his foundation is starting to crack from the blasting. He described it as feeling like a train was “coming under my house.”

“They got to understand that there is a lot of rock around here and it carries everywhere,” Rogers said. “It damages housing and foundations. They got to understand that if they go in there, I don’t know how much dynamite they use, but they are either going to have to use less or do different.”

The State Fire Marshal’s Office has received 304 blasting complaints so far this year and a new law was passed by the legislature earlier this year hoping to reduce blasting issues.

“We are actively involved in the development at the Retreat at Norman Farms and are working with a subcontractor to manage the necessary blasting,” developer Perry Pratt said in a statement. “This work is properly permitted and performed under approved guidelines with the State of Tennessee. We take very seriously any neighborhood issues and will review this with the appropriate subcontractor.”

Many neighbors said they are not doing anything to fix the cracks in their homes until all the blasting is finished because they are concerned things will only get worse.

Ricciardi said they would even consider legal action to get the developer to pay for the damages if needed.

“If the seismic blasting is within the limits, they are not going to stop blasting is what we have been told,” Ricciardi said.

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