Sinkhole opens up along Route 136 in west Hempfield
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A sizable sinkhole opened up on Thursday afternoon along the 3200 block of Route 136 in Hempfield.
“My employees spotted it and let me know about it this morning,” said Joe Maher, owner of West Hempfield Self Storage.
“There’s an old mine shaft about 25 feet down. This area was where all the railroad cars came up to load — you can see the slag piles across (Route 136).”
The sinkhole is about 15 feet across and close to 20 feet at its deepest point. Along the roadside, the sinkhole had exposed much of the guardrail’s underground structure along Route 136.
Maher purchased the property in 1998, after it sat vacant for three decades following the mine’s closure. A large number of shipping containers are stored there. None of them are within 50 feet of the sinkhole.
“Luckily, there are no kids around,” Maher said.
PennDOT District 12 spokesperson Melissa Maczko said her department had been made aware of the sinkhole and is investigating.
“However, the area of concern is outside of the shoulder and is currently not impacting the roadway,” Maczko said. “We will continue to monitor the situation.”
The DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is charged with handling hazards related to pre-1977 coal mining. State Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Lauren Fraley said the bureau had not been notified about the sinkhole.
The former Hempfield Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad was built to access several mines in the region in the 1890s. It followed a similar path as modern-day Route 136 from Greensburg to Darragh, where it continued west to Cowansburg.