Couple relive sinkhole nightmare

Four years ago, a sinkhole ate their front lawn. Now one has opened near their pool.

By KATHERINE BLOK

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 3, 2000

SPRING HILL -- Four years ago, a sinkhole swallowed Arnold and Beverly Larsen's front lawn, and county officials warned that more sinkholes could open near their home.

On Wednesday, fears of losing their home returned when a 20-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep sinkhole opened up alongside the Larsens' deck and pool.

[Times photo: Kevin White] Beverly Larsen, right, and neighbor Sherry Luksis look at the sinkhole that opened up near Larsen's pool and deck Wednesday in Spring Hill.

"Now we're going to lose our house," Mrs. Larsen said Wednesday, as television news crews hovered nearby.

Three other sinkholes also opened near the property, in and around a retention pond that borders the Larsens' yard. The holes caused county officials to close all but two northbound lanes of Mariner Boulevard between Abbeville and Marysville streets. The road was still partially closed Wednesday night.

About noon, county Public Works Department crews arrived with dump trucks full of dirt and sand and began filling in three of the four sinkholes.

The sinkhole on the Larsens' property at 11214 Captain Drive cannot be filled until the couple's insurance agents have processed the claim. A claims adjuster arrived Wednesday afternoon to snap photos.

County officials drained the Larsens' swimming pool to reduce the chance that the sinkhole would swallow the pool and deck.

Orange signs that read "Unsafe building; do not occupy" were taped to the Larsens' house, one near the front door on Captain Drive and one near the side entrance off Abbeville Street. The Larsens evacuated their home early in the morning and are staying with a neighbor.

After the 1996 sinkhole, which was 40 feet wide and 35 feet deep, engineers hired by the Larsens' insurance company injected a cementlike mixture into the ground around the house. The mixture was pumped into the ground every few feet through steel tubes, spread through the soil and formed an underground wall around the house and garage.

Emergency Management Officer Bill Appleby said nothing can be done to prevent sinkholes because they are a natural occurrence in Florida.

Then-director of public works Alan Holbach told the Larsens in 1996 that the size of the sinkhole indicated that the yard was susceptible to more sinkholes.

A Southwest Florida Water Management District report says sinkholes "develop more frequently north of Tampa Bay where the limestone base is closest to the land surface and the supporting sand and clay layers are thin." A lack of rainfall and an overpumping of the water supply, both of which have been occurring frequently in Hernando, can also cause sinkholes, the report says.

Appleby said county officials were trying to monitor and stabilize the sinkholes and keep gawkers out of the area. Sheriff's deputies blocked off the southbound lanes of Mariner Boulevard, diverting traffic into the turning lane so that emergency vehicles and agency officials could have access to the site.

"One of the dangers is the undermining of Mariner. We're trying to stabilize that," Appleby said.

Engineers found voids underneath Mariner Boulevard that "coincide with sinkhole activity," said Art Dillman of All Coast Engineering, a private firm that works with emergency management teams in eight counties.

The voids will be sealed with concrete today. Workers will begin "any and all remedial action" so that residents can "sleep safely," Dillman said.

Mrs. Larsen said Wednesday evening that the water and electricity to her house had been shut off. She also said she is afraid the sinkhole in her yard will merge with the sinkhole at the edge of the retention pond and cause her home to collapse overnight.

"We're just praying that the house is still there when we wake up in the morning," she said.

In 1998, a 150-foot-wide sinkhole, one of the largest ever recorded in Hernando County, swallowed an electronic sales and repair shop on Linden Drive in Spring Hill. The owner, Andrew Peterson, has since sued Florida Water Services, saying the company's well pumping triggered the sinkhole. The company denied the accusation, and the case is pending.

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