The sinkhole is located at a parking lot built on a documented coal ash structural fill. | Stock Photo
The sinkhole is located at a parking lot built on a documented coal ash structural fill. | Stock Photo
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is investigating a sinkhole that emerged adjacent to Hwy 150 in Mooresville and released sediment containing coal ash, the DEQ said in a press release.
DEQ has been monitoring the sinkhole since becoming aware of it during a site inspection in July of 2019, the DEQ said in the Sept. 21 release. The sinkhole is located at a parking lot built on a documented coal ash structural fill.
The property owner had previously repaired the sinkhole in 2018 and 2019 before heavy rains on Sept. 17 caused a stream culvert pipe located under the coal ash structural fill to collapse, leading the sinkhole to reopen, the DEQ said in the release.
During site inspections after the storm, sediment containing coal ash was observed in the stream bed of the unnamed tributary where it emerges south of Hwy 150, the release said. DEQ staff have collected water quality samples from the stream and are monitoring the situation.
County and state emergency management authorities have been alerted of the contamination.
Alerts Sign-up