Fort Liberty barracks, housing having issues again, some residents say

Rachael Riley, Fayetteville Observer
·3 min read
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FORT LIBERTY — Reports of brown water coming from the taps in Fort Liberty family housing are being investigated, garrison officials said.

Residents of the Bougainville/Corregidor neighborhood provided video and photos of the water to military-focused social media pages last week.

A user also posted the issue to the app Hots&Cots, which allows users to rank military barracks and dining facilities on a star system similar to Yelp.

“A senior enlisted (noncommissioned officer) reached out to me and confirmed that yes, this is a problem within this neighborhood,” said former Staff Sgt. Rob Evans, developer of Hots& Cots. Evans served in the Army Reserve and North Carolina National Guard for 12 years.

Evans said he’s been unable to confirm whether the brown water is also in barracks buildings on post.

In a statement Tuesday, a garrison spokeswoman said the American States Utility Services team is flushing the lines in several housing areas near Pope Army Airfield and Ardennes Street "and examining the system," to see if the brown water "is an isolated incident or a symptom of a wider problem."

The Directorate of Public Works "is aware of the situation and monitoring ASUS’ process," garrison spokeswoman Cheryle Rivas said.

A soldier walks past the aging Smoke Bomb Hill barracks Sept. 8, 2022. Most of the aging Smoke Bomb Hill barracks were demolished after issues with heating and ventilation systems and moisture levels, while some buildings were remodeled.
A soldier walks past the aging Smoke Bomb Hill barracks Sept. 8, 2022. Most of the aging Smoke Bomb Hill barracks were demolished after issues with heating and ventilation systems and moisture levels, while some buildings were remodeled.

Mold?

Water isn’t the only issue that residents are reporting to Hots&Cots and social media sites.

With a couple of weeks until summer, reports of mold and broken air conditioners are popping up.

According to the social media page fancy_fancy_bear, soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment reported mold in their 82nd Airborne Division barracks building, as have soldiers in barracks along Ardennes Street.

Evans said he also received a report in April of personal items becoming moldy when a soldier was away on vacation.

In the garrison statement, officials said the Directorate of Public Works "routinely receives, responds and resolves" about 60-70 service calls for mold each month in the summer.

In the past 30 days, DPW has responded and resolved 61 mold work orders, Rivas said.

Rivas said it is uncommon for air quality testing to be conducted when mold is found and treated and air testing is performed if "someone in the facility has been diagnosed with an illness and mold was not visibly identified."

"In those rare instances, an air quality test can be used to help locate the source and the type of the mold," she said.

Sweltering rooms

With photos on social media purportedly showing thermostat readings of 80 degrees in rooms in the 307th Brigade Support Battalion barracks and 3rd Brigade Combat Team reception barracks, Evans said he has also heard soldier frustrations with air conditioners not operating correctly, including in the recently remodeled Smoke Bomb Hill barracks.

Most of the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks were demolished and some were renovated after being deemed substandard in summer 2022 because of faulty heating and ventilation systems that led to mold growth.

Rivas said DPW's air conditioner team has been performing preventative maintenance services on major systems throughout the installation to prepare for the summer.

The team "will triage" and repair broken systems as soon as possible, she said.

"Any lengthy outages are typically the result of waiting on parts that are needed to restore the system to full functionally," Rivas said.

Evans said he has contacted Fort Liberty garrison leaders and garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Seymour about some of the issues reported on Hots&Cots.

“He is very for the soldiers and wanting to get things resolved and looked at,” Evans said. “So the more information I can give him such as building number or room number, he wants to look into it, and he’ll do what he can.”

Rivas said service members are asked to use the Army Maintenance Application to submit maintenance requests and can call 910-396-0321 at any time for emergency work orders.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Is Fort Liberty having water issues in housing areas?