Last of a series
Editor’s Note: In tbe first part
of the series last week, Lancaster
Fanning interviewed those who
experienced difficulties in deal
ing with sinkholes. Part two
looks at some of the alternatives
farmers have in dealing with
sinkholes, and introduces a pro
ject that can help educate others
about how to handle the
problem.
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
“By repairing a sinkhole,
you’re not only taking care of a
physical hazard, but you’re also
cleaning out a dump,’’ said Bruce
Benton, a geologist with the Natur
al Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS formerly the Soil Con
servation Service, or SCS).
What many farmers may not
realize, according to Benton, is
that sinkholes can be a direct con
duit to a water supply. So whatever
you throw in a sinkhole will show
up in your water supply.
Soon to be released will be the
results of a survey, conducted by
the Lancaster County Conserva
tion District with the help of the
Environmental Protection Agency
Beware
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
(Lebanon Co.)
*One night, a man in this Lebanon
County community heard strange
noises coming from somewhere
Luckiiy
tor him, before entering die base
mem, he turned on the lights.
* What he found was that a
fe»foot deep sinkhole had opened
up in his basement, caving in the
basement floor, taking with it the
oil tank for his heating system, his
hot water heater, and other items.
Sinkholes can literally happen
anywhere, warns a certified pro
fessional geologist. And every
body should remember that sink
holes are “very unpredictable,
very difficult to understand, and
can kill you,” said Ed Pinero,
director of environmental science
services at Renew Associates,
Inc., in Lancaster.
Pinero spoke on Wednesday
afternoon as a guest of the weekly
meeting of the Mount Joy Rotary
Qub at The Gathering Place in
Mount Joy. He spoke about
methods used to identify and treat
sinkholes and his experiences with
treating sinkholes on commercial
properties.
“Sinkholes are incredibly
dangerous,’ * he said. He said that a
sinkhole opened up on a main
street in Palmyra not too long ago.
When a contractor went to mea
sure how deep it was, the tape mea
sure stretched down 85 feet, before
the tape simply ran out
“We have sinkhole-prone topo
graphy,” said Pinero. Sinkholes
will form in nearly any location on
limestone bedrock. “There is no
way you can stop it avoid it or
work your way around it. That’s
just the way it is.”
Sinkholes can vary by type and
size.
The most prevalent type of sink
holes are the “soil-piping sink,”
formed when water, carrying soil
particles, washes down to bedrock,
eroding away at the topsoil. The
toil thins add collapses, leaving a
gaping whole, which can serve as a
There Are Solutions To Sinkhole Problems
(EPA) and the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture, on
pesticide use in the Pequea-Mill
Creek Watershed. One of the con
clusions: farmers believe that once
a sinkhole is simply covered up,
there are no longer any problems.
In the survey, 76 percent of
those who responded reported no
sinkholes, and eight percent
reported between 1-3 sinkholes.
Sixteen percent stated they had
“none presently” or that they
occurred only “occasionally.”
According to the report, the per
ception was that once a sinkhole
was filled with stones and/or cov
ered over with soil, it no longer
existed.
The report indicated the follow
ing: “This shows that 16 percent
probably do not understand that
these sinkholes (even when cov
ered over) pose a potential threat of
direct conveyance of pollutants to
groundwater if the area receives
nutrient or pesticide applications.
This ‘out of sight, out of mind’
thinking should be addresssed in
any educational program.”
Farmers remain afraid to. talk
about sinkhole problems. They
fear government intervention and
costly repairs, or. in the least,
investigation by an agency such as
DER and possible subsequent
fines. So while many remain hush
Of Sinkhole
direct conduit for surface water
contaminants into the
groundwater.
Penn State’s Department of
Agriculture Engineering has pre
pared the Chesapeake Bay Fact
Sheet #S, which alerts potential
sinkhole “owners” about what to
do to protect water quality. The
following steps are important:
• Don’t use sinkholes as dump
ing sites. Sinkholes may seem like
ideal locations to dump trash, but
they’re not. The water from preci
pitation and drainage that flows
through trash-filled sinkholes car
ries contaminants directly into
groundwater.
• Never dump rinse water from
sprayer tanks or any other hazard!-
ous liquids into sinkholes. These
liquids will reach groundwater
easily. Never dump any hazardous
materials, including pesticide con
tainers, into a sinkhole.
• Avoid using sinkholes as out
lets for drainage tiles. This water
may contain contaminants, such as
pesticides and nitrate, that have
leached from the soil.
Steps that should foe taken are
the following:
Ed Pinero, director of environmental eeience cervlcee for
Renew Aeeoclatee, Lancaeter, center, spoke about the dan
gere of elnkholea at a meeting title week of the Mourn Joy
Rotary Chib. From left, Todd Smelgh, preeldent of the Rot
ary, who presented a gift to Pinero, and at right, Ed Kaaeab,
president-elect.
Part 2 O
Sinkhole Series
“Ideally, we’d like to have demonetratlon sites In place to show people and explain
what was done," said Gerald Martin, assistant on the Pequea-Mlll Creek Project, right.
Together with NRCS project leader Frank Lucas, the team wants to spend some of the
funding (a portion of nearly $190,000) to clean up and repair sinkholes. First, they
need volunteer farms In the watershed.
hush about the problems, sink
holes remain to pollute substantial
Dangers
• If the sinkhole contains trash,
clean it out. This will stop any
further groundwater
contamination.
• Keep sinkholes and the area
immediately around them vege
tated with trees, shrubs, and gras
ses. This buffer of vegetation will
help stabilize thearea, filter conta
minated runoff, and provide wild
life habitat.
Remember, sinkholes need to be
treated with care. A video showing
sinkhole repair from Clinton
County is available from many
conservation district offices. Call
them and request to borrow a copy.
Contact your local extension office
or conservation district for more
information about how to handle
sinkholes.
Farmers in the Pequea-Mill
Creek Project area who want to
sign up under a special educational
program and have sinkholes
repaired free of charge should con
tact Gerald Martin, Pequea-Mill
Creek Project, 31 IB Airport Dr.,
P.O. Box 211, Smoketown, PA
17576-0211, (717) 396-9423.
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, December 3, 1994-A3l
sources of groundwater in the Che
sapeake Bay area.
But for now, farmers can solve
the problem and not worry about
the government imposing fines or
restrictions on their practices.
. And repairing them costs
money.
However, under a new Pequea-
Mill Creek Project initiative, Sec
tion 319 Nonpoint Source Fund
ing, drafted in August and
approved in early November this
year, farmers in the Pequea-Mill
Creek Project area in Lancaster
County can repair the sinkholes
free of cost
Under the plan, there is money
to repair four or five sinkholes in
the project area.
One of the objectives of the ini
tiative was to identify four or five
sinkholes in the watershed area
(which stretches from the Susque
hanna River into the eastern and
southeastern sections of Lancaster
County) that have been used as
dump sites. For no charge, the pro
ject, together with the help of the
slate NRCS and the Lancaster
County Conservation District, will
assess, design, and implement a
complete sinkhole cleanup and
repair on a cooperating farm.
“Ideally, we’d like to have
demonstration sites in place to
show people and explain what was
done,” said Jerry Martin,.assistant
on the Pequea-Mill Creek Project.
Together with NRCS project lead
er Frank Lucas, the team wants to
spend some of the funding (a por
tion of nearly $190,000) to clean
up and repair sinkholes.
They need volunteer farms m
the watershed.
Once completed, the sites would
be used “for educational purposes
to talk to farmers about what is
involved in cleaning them up,”
said Martin.
The project assistant said the
team wants to clean up sinkhole?
that have been used as dumps, but
would consider large sinkholes
that open out in the field.
According to Lucas, the team
wants “to bring people to the site
and show them what we did' ’ dur-
ing field day demonstrations and
so forth.
In the process, the team hopes to
leam more about exactly what
should be done in identifying the
size of the sinkhole, the extent of
the sinkhole, and potential effects
it has on groundwater contamina
tion. They also plan to document
the processes involved in repairing
the site. Also, the project wants to
examine ways to manage the sink
hole after it is repaired.
“We’re all learning in the pro
cess,” said Martin. “As long as
the sinkholes are there, there is a
risk to that fanner from an environ
mental standpoint that could come
back to haunt him or her at some
point down the road.”
“Farmers are serious about
keeping surface water out of the
sinkholes,” said Lucas. Many
sinkholes, according to the NRCS
project leader, open up in terraces
as a result of heavy water accumu
lation and flow. Many farmers
have to accept the fact that, even
after a sinkhole is repaired, there
are certain managemenj strategies
that have to be implemented near
the sinkhole to ensure the safety of
groundwater quality.
According to Travis Martin,
conservation technician with the
Lancaster County Conservation
District, the district can assess the
situation and look at technical help
to design a plan for the farm. He
said the district’s program is very
similar to the NRCS program.
Because sinkhole repair is esti
mated on site and extent of dam
age, cost estimates will vary. As an
example, to repair one such sink
hole in Lancaster County, accord
ing to NRCS records, it cost about
$4BO for materials.
For information on signing up
with the Pequea-Mill Creek Pro
ject to have a sinkhole repaired,
contact Gerald Martin, Pequea-
Mill Creek Project, 31 IB Airport
Dr., P.O. Box 211, Smokctown,
PA 17576-0211, (717) 396-9423.
Said Martin, "If we can demon
strate that these things can be
cleaned up and repaired, it will
encourage more widespread
cleanup.”