DONALDSONVILLE - Thirteen Donaldsonville residents filed suit against a water agency and three other corporations in charge of a pile-driving project that they say caused extensive damage to properties nearby. 

2 On Your Side first talked to residents of Donaldsonville's Historic District in Dec. 2023. Homeowners said loud pile driving was disrupting their quality of life and destroying their homes. 

Jim Blanchard, one of the residents filing suit, lives a few hundred feet from where the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District is building a new pump station to bring fresh water to 300,000 people in four different parishes and combat saltwater intrusion. Sealevel Construction, Stantec Consulting and Delta Coast Consultants are working in coordination with the fresh water agency. All four entities are listed as defendants in the suit. 

The lawsuits allege that Bayou Lafourche Freshwater District and the other corporations did not monitor the vibrations or noise levels coming from the pile driving. Plaintiffs say that the group either knew or should have known that a project this size would damage properties nearby. 

In December, Blanchard told WBRZ that his house has been shaking for months, causing structural damages and disrupting the quality of his life. He works from home as an architectural archival artist. He said it's nearly impossible to work on detailed drawings when his home is shaking from the morning into the evening, six days a week. Blanchard said his home has broken windows, damaged walls and foundation, cracked columns and sheetrock that caused a diminished property value. 

Attorneys cited an excerpt from Louisiana's Constitution which they believe holds the companies liable for damages.

"Property shall not be taken or damaged by the state or its political subdivision except for public purposes and with just compensation paid to the owner of into the court for his benefit," the lawsuit cited from Article I, section 4(B) of the State Constitution.