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By JENN SANCHEZ [email protected]
Saturday, July 08, 2000 Page: 1A
FREELAND – After workers spent several hours filling a 10-foot-wide hole
with about 400 tons of rocks and called it a day Friday, the crater remained
more than 30 feet deep, PennDOT officials said.
Located near the corner of Centre and South streets, the hole was
surrounded by road crews and spectators who watched truck after truck dump
about 18 tons of rock apiece onto the road. An excavator then raked the rocks
into the sinkhole.
Freeland police warned people not to smoke in the area because of an
unknown gas wafting from the hole.
“The rocks are just starting to surface,” said PennDOT Assistant
Maintenance Manager Eugene Rafalli after the last truck dumped its load at
about 3 p.m.
Prior to the backfilling, the water-filled hole was estimated to be more
than 200 feet deep, Rafalli said.
The neighborhood stands above an abandoned underground coal mine, said Gary
Green, a geology supervisor with the state Department of Environmental
Protection. Many of the streets in the area, including Centre and South, were
recently paved.
Work has been suspended until officials from the federal Office of Surface
Mining evaluate the situation on Monday, Rafalli said. Later in the week, the
agency should begin to accept emergency bids from contractors, he said.
Centre Street will remain closed from South to Luzerne streets until the
hole is repaired, Rafalli said.
While police taped off the area, PennDOT workers swept the street clean and
covered the hole with sheets of plywood.
The crater started as a 2-foot opening in the road, but quickly grew during
PennDOT’s investigation Thursday afternoon. Some people were evacuated because
of the smell of gas, but returned to their homes Thursday night.
Officials warn people from going near the hole during the weekend. Police
will be stationed near the sinkhole around the clock.
Many area residents and business owners said the closed-off streets are an
inconvenience.
Salvatore Manfredi, owner of Sal Sorrento’s Inc. Pizzeria, whose shop is
located near the hole at 462 Centre St., said Friday’s lunch crowd was not
affected by the sinkhole.
“Thank God nothing has happened to anyone,” he said. “It’s been a little
inconvenience, but business is fine.”
Fred Gerhart, a Freeland resident of 29 years, said he has seen similar
holes, but none so close to home.
“It’s very interesting,” he said. He said he was concerned that if more
rock were to be dumped into the hole, polluted water would rise to the
surface.
Jenn Sanchez, a Times Leader intern, may be reached at 829-7161.