Los Angeles city workers secure a sinkhole caused by the heavy rains along Tujunga Avenue in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles February 20, 2005. A stalled winter storm began moving onshore the previous evening, drenching previously soaked hillsides and filling drainage channels. Rainfall totals in southern California this winter have exceeded the Pacific Northwest. (UPI Photo/Jim Ruymen) |
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DYER, Ind., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Wet earth in northwest Indiana continues to cave in on itself as a sinkhole grows larger in a suburban backyard. Now 40 feet wide and 30 feet deep, the sinkhole is threatening portions of three separate municipalities in the area.
That's because the backyard sits on the border of three towns -- none of which seem willing to do anything about the growing problem. The sinkhole is on an easement which lies adjacent to the home of Frank and Letitia Casto. They say local officials from all three towns have helped deal with the problem before -- a problem that's been lurking for the four years they've lived in their house -- but that, now, no one is taking responsibility.
"I called city, they filled it with rock and covered with grass," Letitia Casto told local ABC affiliate WBS. But that was a few years ago. Casto says the hole has been filled some 20 times over the years, but the problem hasn't gone away.
Heavy rains over the weekend made the problem much worse. "It just keep dropping and swallowing trees and this is where we are at," she said.
Half of the Casto's home lies in the town of Dyer, the other half in Schererville. And the land across the street belongs to the city of Munster. All three municipalities share the sewer pipes, gas and electrical lines that run beneath the deepening sinkhole.
"We've been complaining to different people at this all this time, everybody keeps ignoring," said Frank Caso. "It could have been a little problem; it is turned into a monster at this point."
According to NBC Chicago, a construction crew has begun working to repair the collapsed storm pipes that caused the surface layer to fall in on itself. But even though the work's begun, it's a project that could take weeks, and the three towns are still working on an agreement on who will cover the bill.
