ALTON, Ill. – Gordon Moore Community Park in Alton will remain closed until further notice as remediation efforts continue for a large sinkhole that suddenly emerged last month.
Alton City leaders and officials from New Frontier Materials addressed the public Tuesday on remediation efforts at Gordon Moore Community Park in Alton. That’s the site where a sinkhole opened up in the fields on June 26, swallowing part of a soccer field and a massive light pole.
David Goins, the mayor of Alton, Illinois, says the park will remain closed and all activities will be suspended “until further notice.” He says there is no definitive timeline of remediation efforts.
Nashville, Ill. dams collapse, residents told to evacuate area “As we continue to move forward, we will continue to prioritize the utmost safety.”
New Frontier Materials is a company that was mining underneath the park where the sinkhole took place.
According to Goins, the Mine Safety and Health Administration “determined the subsidence was an anolomy event and it would have been very difficult for New Frontier Materials to predict a sinkhole like this.”
Security video from Gordon Moore Park captured the incredible moments when the sinkhole opened up. The sinkhole is estimated to be about 50 feet deep and 100 feet wide.
Alton City officials have said that crews from New Frontier Materials were mining about 150 feet below the soccer fields and that the mines below fields three and four began having issues before the sinkhole developed.
“As we continue to move forward, we will continue to prioritize the utmost safety,” said Goins.
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New Frontier Materials have sent engineers to the site in the wake of the sinkhole. A spokesperson said they would work with the city to remediate the issue as quickly as possible.
“Our investigation is ongoing, and there are no clear answers in this cause yet,” said Mike Clarke, CEO of New Frontier Materials in Tuesday’s news conference.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported. But the park remains completely closed because of the sinkhole and that has had a dramatic impact on many activities that would normally happen on these fields and throughout the park.
Mayor Goins said in a statement early in July that he is committed to making safety his top priority in moving forward and dealing with this situation.
A release from the mayor’s office says they are committed to providing meaningful updates and information to the public.
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