Hello,
I'm hoping someone can help or point me in the right direction. I apologize if this is not the correct forum to post this question.
I live in the Central Texas area and recently received a letter from the Edwards Aquifer Authority informing me I have an abandoned water well on my property that is not capped.
I purchased the home in 1998 and the inspection did not raise any red flags when the house was purchased. I completely taken by surprise getting the letter since I've owned the home for 10 years.
The letter indicated I could temporarily cap the well and pay any associated fines and penalties, bring the well back up to working condition or permanently cap the well, in which, all fees and penalties would be waived.
The letter did not indicate what the fees and penalties would be, it did not indicate by what date the well had to be capped nor did list the requirements to cap the well. It seemed rather ambigious to me.
My first question is if anyone knows whether this organization has the authority to require me to cap the well. If so, under what legal authority do they have and where could I obtain further information?
Second, I want to comply and be environmentally friendly, but the figures that were thrown out to me was anywhere from 2,500 to 10,000 to cap the well. This seemed utterly absurb to me, not to mention I don't have that kind of money laying around to cap a well.
Would it be completely outside of the realm of reason to cap this well myself and be within their compliance standards? I do not know what the requirements are to cap the well or where to look and get started.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, my apologies if this is the wrong forum to post this question. I didn't know where to turn or look to get help in figuring out how to proceed.
Thank you.
I'm hoping someone can help or point me in the right direction. I apologize if this is not the correct forum to post this question.
I live in the Central Texas area and recently received a letter from the Edwards Aquifer Authority informing me I have an abandoned water well on my property that is not capped.
I purchased the home in 1998 and the inspection did not raise any red flags when the house was purchased. I completely taken by surprise getting the letter since I've owned the home for 10 years.
The letter indicated I could temporarily cap the well and pay any associated fines and penalties, bring the well back up to working condition or permanently cap the well, in which, all fees and penalties would be waived.
The letter did not indicate what the fees and penalties would be, it did not indicate by what date the well had to be capped nor did list the requirements to cap the well. It seemed rather ambigious to me.
My first question is if anyone knows whether this organization has the authority to require me to cap the well. If so, under what legal authority do they have and where could I obtain further information?
Second, I want to comply and be environmentally friendly, but the figures that were thrown out to me was anywhere from 2,500 to 10,000 to cap the well. This seemed utterly absurb to me, not to mention I don't have that kind of money laying around to cap a well.
Would it be completely outside of the realm of reason to cap this well myself and be within their compliance standards? I do not know what the requirements are to cap the well or where to look and get started.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, my apologies if this is the wrong forum to post this question. I didn't know where to turn or look to get help in figuring out how to proceed.
Thank you.