Ham Lake man can't seek reimbursement after well dries up

Ham Lake man left out of well reimbursement

One year ago the city of Blaine admits it broke rules when it over-pumped water from unpermitted city wells, a decision that left many private well owners without water.

BLAINE (FOX 9) - One year ago the city of Blaine admits it broke rules when it over-pumped water from unpermitted city wells, a decision that left many private well owners without water.

Around that same time, Nathanael Hostetter says his Ham Lake home’s showers and backyard irrigation lost their power; and eventually, he was forced to drill a new well, he says, at a cost of $12,000.

"The well company said that in order for us to put in a new well for Department of Health requirements, you got to seal the old well," Hostetter told FOX 9 on Monday. Then, not long after doing this, Hostetter would come to learn of Blaine’s overpumping for the first time.

Blaine officials are now relying on the DNR to investigate more than a hundred claims, and eventually negotiate compensation for affected homeowners. As of July, already 47 of 50 claims have been validated.

But in Nathaniel’s case, he feels left out to dry, because after sealing his well he’s being told he’s out of luck.

"If a well has been sealed, it could not be considered a valid complaint," DNR Water Regulation Unit Supervisor Tom Hovey said. "This situation, Nathaniel’s, it’s unfortunate."

Hovey says a groundwater technical unit looked at Hostetter’s well but was unable to rule out other variables that may have caused its failure, because the hole has been closed off.

"It’s unfortunate that the well was sealed," Hovey said. "It’s possible it might’ve been found valid if it wasn’t, but it’s also possible that it wasn’t going to be a valid complaint anyway."

While no one can confirm that Blaine’s overpumping is to blame for Hostetter’s dry spell, he believes it's "one heck of a coincidence" that it happened only down the road from a cluster of similar issues. And he wants his money reimbursed.

"It definitely seems reasonable to us that the well could’ve gone dry as a result of their pumping," Hostetter said. "We just feel like everything kind of lined up with Blaine’s timeline of overpumping, but yet we don’t have any options."