Morning Call: June 11, 2001

The state says a local cement company must repair a sinkhole at a railroad abutment at the Upper Nazareth-Palmer Township border.

Hercules Cement Co. of Stockertown has agreed to do the work but doesn't believe it caused the hole in the Bushkill Creek to open.

Sharon Hill, a geologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection, said a 150-foot hole opened in the creek because Hercules withdraws water from there.

Hill, who works at DEP's mining office in Pottsville, said Friday that the 38-page report doesn't criticize Hercules.

"It's just an analysis of factors as to why the sinkholes were occurring," said Hill, who had worked on the report since December and finished it May 31.

Hercules' "dewatering activities were a significant contribution to causing the sinkhole collapse at the railroad bridge," according to the document.

Joe Pospisil, vice president of manufacturing for Hercules, said the company agreed to fix the hole before he received the report last week. Although Pospisil didn't read the report, he said the company maintains it didn't create the hole.

"We agreed to fix it for economic reasons," he said. "We need the rail line as well. We are doing it as a good neighbor."

Meanwhile, Pospisil said, Hercules is waiting for the DEP to approve a permit that would allow the company to dig deeper into its quarry, which is 250 feet deep. He said the company wants to dig 100 feet deeper in the center to retrieve limestone for cement.

"If we fought [DEP], it would equal the costs of fixing the hole, and we don't need to do that," he said. The cost of the work has not been determined.

Rudy Husband, spokesman for Norfolk Southern Corp. of Plymouth Meeting, which owns the railroad, said Friday that he will determine today what needs to be done.

A wall supporting the abutment is separated from the abutment by more than 12 inches and is slowly sinking into the hole. Trains continue to use the railroad daily, Husband said.

Hill said Norfolk Southern and Hercules should work together on the problem.

The report also states Hercules must repair several sinkholes near Schoeneck Creek in Upper Nazareth because the company pumps water from it.

In addition, sinkholes are open along the Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority sewer line and could cause the line to spill. The line carries 350,000-400,000 gallons of sewage a day.

The report states quarries from Hercules and those in Lower Nazareth owned by Eastern Industries Inc. and Essroc Cement Corp. caused the holes. So all three companies should "jointly repair the sinkholes here in cooperation with the Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority."

Hill said her analysis is an update to a report the DEP filed in November, a month after sinkholes developed at the Bushkill Bridge on the Palmer-Stockertown border. The problem there is unresolved, because state, Northampton County and local officials can't agree on who will work with the Army Corps of Engineers and maintain the area.

She said her report supports DEP's original finding that the sinkholes appeared because of rerouting of Bushkill Creek to build Route 33, mining at Hercules, development, heavy rains and the fact eastern Pennsylvania is prone to sinkholes.

William J. Ford