(KOIN 6) A widening sinkhole in Rainier has plenty of water running through it but no one knows where it’s going — and it’s costing ODOT about $10,000 a day to keep it from getting worse.
The sinkhole was spotted December 11, during the record-setting rainstorms that flooded parts of Oregon. It’s affecting the back of Earth and Sun stove shop , and co-owner Jewel Forrest said the water is “just going somewhere and they’re not sure where and how the damage, what it’s really caused.” ODOT spokesperson Lou Torres told KOIN 6 News they cannot allow this to continue to happen. “We’re going to have to do something.”
The sinkhole, he said, is coming from an old culvert that gave way. Nearby Fox Creek partially runs underground, so they are working to keep water levels there down. “It’s pretty expensive,” Torres said. “We’ve got multiple pumps working there just really to try to keep the water from backing up to the road, to the highway. We’re trying to protect the highway is essentially what we’re trying to do.” FULL REPORT
