Morning Call: June 28, 2002

Now that some money from the state to Northampton County will be used to repair sinkholes in Bushkill Creek at the Palmer Township- Stockertown border, a signature is needed.

The county will get $100,000 toward resolving the sinkhole problem, but $75,000 more is needed and someone must work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency doing most of the repairs.

Whoever signs the corps' maintenance agreement must maintain the area forever. As of Thursday, no one was willing to take on that responsibility.

County Administration Director James Hickey said the state should sign the maintenance agreement because it has the resources and money to handle future sinkholes.

Ted Sales, director of public services for Palmer, said it is the county's responsibility because three municipalities are affected -- Palmer, and Stockertown and Tatamy, which borders Stockertown to the south and is nearly surrounded by Palmer.

Don Lerch, assistant district engineer for the state Department of Transportation's District 5 office, said designing and building a bridge above the creek to replace the one that has been closed is the agency's only priority.

While officials bicker over maintaining the creek, the corps continues to work.

"We wrapped up our investigation last month," said Brian Mulvenna, an engineer with the corps. "At least the money came through. We are just waiting."

The corps conducted a geophysical analysis, or core borings, to analyze what's in the ground by using a sonar device to hear the vibrations in the ground.

Mulvenna said the results from the study should done within a month.

Since the holes popped up more than a year ago, they caused the bridge to collapse on the Stockertown side and displaced a family on the Palmer side of Babbling Brook Road from their home for months.

Frustration set in last year when some residents in both municipalities blamed Hercules Cement Co. in Stockertown for causing the holes because it withdraws water from the creek.

Meghan Coursen, spokeswoman for state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D- Northampton/Monroe, said the county should receive the money from the state's Department of Community and Economic Development's Community Revitalization program within two months.

William J. Ford