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Sinkhole worries have no limit
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT
© St. Petersburg Times, SPRING HILL -- Since Thursday, officials have kept vigil on more than 30 sinkholes in a seven-block area on and near Mariner Boulevard. But the problem may be spreading. About four miles north of what workers are calling the "sinkhole hot zone," residents of a neighborhood near the intersection of Elgin and Mariner boulevards are concerned about possible sinkholes in their area. As he does most weekends, Vinnie Stellato was trimming the grass along a flower bed Saturday afternoon when he saw a hole he thought might have been made by a snake. "But the handle of a rake went all the way down into it," said Stellato, who has lived in the house on Collingsworth Street for seven years. "And now you can't even seen the bottom." A 20-foot-square area next to the hole seems sunken, and Stellato fears there might be a pocket ready to open. Telltale cracks have appeared on the side and back walls of the house, and in several spots surrounding the area, a 5-foot pole went easily into the earth. On Sunday, county officials told Stellato the hole might be something as simple as erosion from water runoff -- or it might be a sinkhole. It will take engineers with ground-penetrating sonar to be certain. Although his house has been on the market for about three months, Stellato said he is not ready to panic quite yet. "There's really not much I can do," he said. "I'm just glad I have the insurance." Ralph Zanello, a deputy building official with Hernando County Development Services, said that if the hole turns out to be a sinkhole, it would concern him. "Sinkholes are like a honeycomb," he said. "But there is no way of knowing if these are connected or if this is another separate system." In the days after heavy rains last week, about 35 sinkholes have opened on or within a block of Mariner Boulevard between Red Coach and Maderia streets, Zanello said. Work began Friday to repair sinkholes on Mariner, but detours will remain in place at least until Tuesday. Ricky Richartz was set to buy the home on Mariner Boulevard that he and his family have rented for the past three years. That changed last Friday, when two sinkholes opened in the back yard. The larger of the holes was 16 feet across and about 10 feet deep on Sunday. The second hole, though slightly smaller, is within feet of the screened back porch. Richartz was ready to close earlier last week, but the underwriter for his loan pulled out of the deal at the last minute, he said. While on the telephone Saturday to renegotiate with his mortgage company, Richartz said he saw the first hole open in his back yard. "Boy did they ever do me a favor," Richartz said. "Now instead of $60,000, I'm going to offer them $25,000." Richartz's home is the second to be evacuated along Mariner Boulevard after the latest group of sinkholes formed. Families will receive vouchers for food and housing from the Red Cross until the situation is resolved, Zanello said. "You can make educated guesses, but in the end, we never know where a sinkhole will open until it opens," he said. For seven years, Sue Sardiello has lived on nearby Laval Street, but she now says she may consider moving. "I'm scared all the time that the ground will just open up underneath me," she said. "Every time I go in my driveway or in my yard, I look for holes." Once the sinkholes stabilize, Zanello said, they will be filled with a mixture of sand and lightweight concrete. "I've been here since 1976, and this is the worst rash of sinkholes I've ever seen," he said. "But Hernando is no different than any other place in Florida. We just happen to have a lot of activity right now."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
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