Nixa Sinkhole swallows Car and Garage

[L Roebuck]

Is anyone following the Nixa Sinkhole story?

Home swallowed by giant sinkhole

NIXA (AP) - A leisurely Sunday morning turned frightening for one southwest Missouri man when a giant sinkhole opened up and swallowed a portion of his home, including his garage and a car parked inside.

The homeowner was reading the paper when the ground started shifting around 8:30 a.m. yesterday. Initially, the man thought a tornado was responsible for the loud rumble, said city spokesman Bryan Newberry.

No one was hurt, but at least six other homes in a half-block area were evacuated while geologists evaluated the widening hole. It measured between 55 and 65 feet in diameter and about 75 feet deep.

Newberry said the geologists, including one from Missouri State University, were considering several possibilities, including that an underground cavern gave way.

Full Article: www.columbiatribune.com/2006/Aug/20060814News010.asp

[L Roebuck]

Sinkhole widens; solutions sought

Debris from Nixa home blocks attempt to use underground camera Filling in hole could cause more problems down the road.
Mike Penprase
News-Leader

As a sinkhole swallowed more of a house in Nixa, researchers worked Monday to determine how the void formed and whether it will continue growing.

Shortly before noon, the north side of the house hanging over the sinkhole's edge collapsed into the hole, breaking the house's spine.

The sight stunned people like longtime Nixa resident Charles Green, who with his wife, Karen, joined dozens of people watching in yards across the street from the roped-off area.

There are plenty of sinkholes around Nixa, but not in the downtown neighborhood where the sinkhole appeared Sunday, Green said.

"It's weird, it's weird," he said of the appearance of a sinkhole where there had been no sign of the geological formations. "I think the drought had something to do with it."

That's a possibility, said Missouri State University assistant professor of geology Doug Gouzie.

"I don't know of any evidence, but it wouldn't surprise me it played a role," he said.

Nixa officials might want to act to stop its progress before its walls collapse and it consumes a section of Delaware Street and another home to the north of the sinkhole, said Peter Price, environmental geology section chief with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Division of Geology and Land Survey.

Price and two colleagues surveyed the sinkhole that appeared Sunday morning and devoured Norm Scrivener's garage and car.

"It may be best to provide some remediation as soon as possible to prevent additional collapse," Price said of handling a sinkhole originally estimated to be nearly 70 feet across and 75 feet deep Sunday. By Monday, it had grown in width about 5 feet but became shallower as dirt fell from its walls.

Sinkholes shouldn't be converted to ponds or stormwater detention basins, or filled in for construction, hydrogeologist Tom Aley said.

And sinkholes shouldn't be filled with trash or debris, which along with impeding water flow can cause groundwater pollution, the owner of Ozark Underground Laboratory at Protem said.

Full Article: www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS01/608150380/1007

[Sharon Faulkner]

Experts to probe sinkhole's depth
The exploration effort is to determine the hole's extent before it is filled.
August 22, 2006
Mike Penprase

Residents of a quiet Nixa neighborhood whose peace was jolted when a rumbling sinkhole appeared nine days ago will hear more thumping today. The pounding is part of an effort to probe the sinkhole on Delaware Street and determine its extent before work begins to fill it.

A consultant working with Nixa officials said Monday that exploration done during the weekend could reduce neighbors' concern that the sinkhole that swallowed much of Norman Scrivener's home on Aug. 13 will spread. Two bore holes drilled along the street showed bedrock on the east side of Scrivener's property ranges from 35 to 45 feet below the ground's surface, Gary Pendergrass said.

Bedrock where the sinkhole appeared is estimated at 75 feet below ground. "That should be very encouraging to the neighbors around there," Pendergrass said. "Those depths being so much shallower, there's not as much chance of collapse as we had on Mr. Scrivener's lot, bedrock being so much deeper."

While trying to determine the makeup of the sinkhole and surrounding soil has been inconclusive so far, Pendergrass said he hopes seismic tests beginning today by researchers from the University of Missouri-Rolla will reveal information. The tests are similar to what oil geologists use to check for deposits thousands of feet underground, but are done on a much smaller scale, said UMR geological engineering professor Neil Anderson.

Sensitive instruments will be used to trace vibrations that travel downward and rebound from blows on the ground by a 20-pound sledge hammer. "It can give you an image of the subsurface," he said. "They can use that to estimate depth to bedrock, whether you're looking at soil or rock and God forbid, if there's a cavern," he said. "Obviously, everybody is hoping there's not a cavity."

Expenses involved in having UMR personnel go to Nixa and conduct tests are being covered by the university as a community service, Anderson said. The UMR crew visited Nixa over the weekend and did resistivity testing similar to what Missouri Department of Natural Resources researchers did last week, Anderson said. That testing was inconclusive. Results of the weekend testing weren't available Monday, but Anderson said he's hopeful the tests will have better results that the DNR tests.

Checking the area with ground-penetrating radar also has been considered, but probably won't be done, Anderson said, because soil conditions probably won't allow radar waves to penetrate deep enough to reach bedrock. "Clay is a little bit like lead for the ground-penetrating radar," he said. "It absorbs the signal." Nixa also is continuing to have a surveyor check the site daily to detect any collapsing, Pendergrass said. Other than more dirt falling into the sinkhole, there haven't been any changes, he said.

www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060822/NEWS01/608220366/1007

[L Roebuck]

OZARKS VOICES

Sinkhole raises water questions

The catastrophic collapse of the sinkhole in Nixa should be a wake-up call for Ozarkers. Not because of the danger of houses falling into a black hole, but because of a more imminent and likely threat: the problem of contamination of groundwater that we depend on for our homes, farms and businesses.
This is a runaway train, and we are building our home on the tracks. We live in a "holy" land more like Swiss cheese than solid rock. Most everything that gets dumped, spilled or flushed eventually ends up in the groundwater draining through sinkholes. For every cave and spring in our area, there are multiple surface connections that vary in size and stability. The sinkhole that swallowed most of a house is just the tip of a much larger problem that, like an iceberg, is mostly hidden from view. If our county does not take a proactive and serious approach to groundwater contamination, many more of us will be facing a less dramatic but larger catastrophic event when we are unable to have cheap, clean and abundant water.

The neighborhood that is immediately surrounding the sinkhole has suffered a life-changing event that will affect them in very serious ways, and some will have to decide if they will stay in their homes or move away. For the rest of us, the only question is when, not if, we will start to see the quality of our groundwater damaged to the point it is no longer usable without expensive treatment, if at all. When this happens, life in the Ozarks will be radically different from what it is today.

We are increasing the demand as well as the problem of contamination with inappropriate development due to lax or nonexistent regulations and total lack of foresight and planning. Developers can conveniently ignore sinkholes despite the obvious signs. This has happened in my neighborhood of Terrell Creek, where there is a sinkhole clearly visible from the road "the size of Dallas" on the property that has lots designated for home construction, approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Christian County has little or no regulations regarding sinkholes but there are resources willing and available: the leadership of Dave Coonrod in Greene County, the vast expertise of Tom Aley in Taney County and the information and assistance from Holly Neill with the James River Basin Partnership.

The question is, why does it take the Titanic hitting the iceberg for our elected officials to pay attention to what is all around them?

Article: www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060824/OPINIONS02/608240336/1091

[Azurerana]

The Titanic? Three-fifths of Missouri is directly underlain by limestone/dolomite. If Missouri geology or geography were taught in elementary or high school, perhaps someone might have a clue. We hope the new "Cave State" license plates will help.
Good to hear Christian County (directly to the south of Greene, that which contains Springfield) is waking up.... but I doubt if there is enough money in Missouri to mitigate sinkhole plain development . Too much greed, and not enough sense around here. I do find it wryly amusing that "For the rest of us, the only question is when, not if, we will start to see the quality of our groundwater damaged to the point it is no longer usable without expensive treatment, if at all. When this happens, life in the Ozarks will be radically different from what it is today."

Can you say well and septic system very close to each other? How about 'preacher's disease' (cholera)? Life in the Christian and Greene County Ozarks already is 'radically different ' from what it used to be. For musical commentary, see the songs "Quarry Anthem: and "Barrel Springs" by Big Smith....

Guess we never shoulda let the flatlanders in...
Jed, Jethro, Elly and Granny

[jonsdigs]

Sinkhole leaves SW Missouri homeowner in limbo
Kansas City Star
Posted on Mon, Jan. 01, 2007
Associated Press

NIXA, Mo. - Norm Scrivener is grateful for all the help extended to him after his home disappeared into a sinkhole. But nearly five months after the slow-motion catastrophe, he's still wondering when he'll have his life back in order.

On Aug. 13, as Scrivener read the Sunday paper, his garage, the car inside it and a chunk of his home disappeared into the earth. During the next few days, people watched as the rest of his house slipped into the massive hole.

Scrivener has moved into an apartment and doesn't know what he will do with his land. He can't afford to buy a new house unless he sells his former property.

"If anyone wants to own a piece of Nixa history, I'd be more than happy to oblige," Scrivener said.

Insurance covered his car and home but not the land, which is where he has most of his equity.

He had hoped the city would buy his land for $15,000, but it declined, because the city had spent more than $90,000 after the sinkhole appeared. Officials have asked him to give the land to the city. Scrivener says he has not made a decision.

He's not feeling sorry for himself, noting bad things happen to people all the time.

"Me and my family have lived there for 43 years. We're a decent family. It's just a bizarre situation. I'm disappointed it turned out this way, but I don't know what else I could do or say to change things," Scrivener said.

What he would like is to thank everyone who helped him, including his insurance agents. The outpouring of support from the community and Ozark School District, where he works, was incredible.

"Everyone was very, very kind. You wouldn't believe it. (They gave) handmade quilts, sheets, gift cards. It was humbling," Scrivener said.

Article

[Azurerana]

Thanks for the post. Other than he's apparently stuck with a sinkhole and worthless property, there isn't much to follow up. Sinkholes happen.