Aquifer breach during drilling at Horseshoe Solar Energy project, Rush, New York

During horizontal directional drilling to install an underground conduit beneath the Genesee River as part of the Horseshoe Solar Energy project in Rush and Caledonia, Livingston County, New York, groundwater surfaced from two bore holes on 3 February 2026, with reporting describing an underground drill puncturing an aquifer. The water briefly spread to a limited area of a nearby agricultural field. In the weeks that followed, four homes in Meadowood and one on East River Road experienced low water levels, and Horseshoe Solar provided drinking water and installed temporary potable water systems. State regulators were notified and visited the site. Invenergy, the operator and owner of the Horseshoe Solar Energy project, was approved to seal the affected bore holes with a hydrophobic foam grout, with the grouting completed on 8 March 2026. More than a month after the incident, some residents in Rush reported cloudy tap water and low-level vibrations, neither of which had been explained by the company or the regulator, and remained reliant on delivered water while seeking a longer-term solution.

Pressurised groundwater was encountered during horizontal directional drilling beneath a river. The developer described this as an undesired but potential occurrence with this type of underground construction, while the state regulator said encountering pressurised water during such drilling is unusual. The continuing reports of cloudy water and vibrations have not been explained in the reporting.

1. Horizontal directional drilling near watercourses and aquifers can intersect pressurised groundwater, so stop-work triggers, notification routes and contingency plans should be agreed before boring begins.
2. Pre-construction private well monitoring over a generous radius gives a baseline against which later complaints can be assessed, and developers should maintain clear, ongoing communication with affected households.
3. Where residents report continuing water quality changes after remediation, independent post-remediation testing and a published regulator review help confirm safety and rebuild trust.

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