Linn County seeks $20K penalty for unpermitted wells

CEDAR RAPIDS — Linn County officials are working to level a $20,000 civil penalty against a Minnesota company that drilled dozens of shallow, unpermitted wells at a Cedar Rapids construction site.

Linn County Public Health on Tuesday announced that it has asked the county attorney’s office to issue the penalty to Northern Dewatering for unpermitted work completed at the site of the future QTS data center in Cedar Rapids.

The wells were discovered following a June 24 site visit in the area of 76th Avenue SW and Old Bridge Road, and as many as 40 unpermitted dewatering wells were identified during the subsequent investigation.

Per a statement from Linn County Public Health, the wells were drilled “without the required permit, permit fee, or 24-hour notification” to the county on multiple parcels of land between May 20 and June 11.

Northern Dewatering has been issued a notice of violation, and county staff are now working with the company to seek the proper permitting and inspections for the wells.

Dewatering wells are those used to remove ground- and surface water from an excavation site to create a dry and stable soil environment ahead of construction. They are temporary and only used during the construction process.

The unpermitted wells were dug as part of a sanitary sewer extension project meant to support the larger $750 million QTS data center campus — one of two large-scale centers planned for the Big Cedar Industrial Center.

Elder Corporation was contracted to serve as the site manager for the sanitary sewer project, and that company then subcontracted with Northern Dewatering to install the dewatering wells.

“Corporations, contractors, and their subcontractors need to be held accountable when they fail to follow permitting requirements we have in place to protect our residents and our resources,“ Linn County Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt said in a news release. ”QTS has assured us they understand the seriousness of the situation and are working to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

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