South Carolina Governor’s Office
The Honorable Henry D. McMaster
State House
1100 Gervais Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Re: Destruction of Lives and Homes by the SCDOT and its Contractors
for the Leaphart Road Bridge Replacement Project
Dear Governor McMaster:
We live adjacent to this very poorly managed SCDOT project which began
in August of 2016. This project was planned for over 10 years, and from the
first day of construction it has been an unbelievable nightmare for us and
our neighbors. The constant excessive noise and vibration, especially at
night, created considerable health issues and anxiety for our special needs
child. From September 2016 to the end of April 2017, our child gained less
than two pounds and his height remained unchanged. He was unable to
finish that school year, and the constant stress significantly accelerated the
need for a heart operation. Imagine a seven-year-old child going to bed
night after night worried that his home may collapse on top of him during
the night because of the multiple cracks in the walls and ceiling of his bedroom
caused by construction vibration.
Recently contractors replaced our level driveway with a very steep driveway
approved by the SCDOT which causes stormwater from the roadway to
flood our yard next to the foundation of our home. We have had a parcel of
our property taken without due process or compensation. One neighboring
family with three small children had to abandon their home. Another neighbor,
a ninety-two-year-old naval veteran, has extensive vibration damage,
flooding and property taking issues as well. We recently had to move out
of our home because of the ongoing stress on our child and the damage to
our home.
Every State agency we contacted including the SCDOT has failed to help
us or even address any issue created by this project. The SCDOT and the
contractors for this project cannot point to one single thing they have done
to address any issue they created for us. Every one of these issues and the
impact on us was predictable, especially for experienced contractors, and
therefore easily preventable.
The citizens of South Carolina deserve much better than this type of agency
mismanagement. We contacted your staff the first time almost a year
ago, and we were informed you were too busy to help or even discuss this
with us. We believe a child’s health, our quality of life, our homes and property
are worth your time. We are asking you, as a Governor responsible to
the citizens of this State, to hold people accountable and help resolve every
issue created by this project for us and our neighbors.
Respectfully,
The Bowers Family
Please visit our Go Fund Me page for more information.
gofundme.com/go-to-bat-for-alex
