Lake vanishes almost overnight; sinkhole drains man-made body of water near St. Louis

Associated Press ^ | June 11, 2004 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Lake vanishes almost overnight

Sinkhole drains man-made body of water near St. Louis

09:05 PM CDT on Friday, June 11, 2004

Associated Press

WILDWOOD, Mo. – To people around Wildwood, it is nothing but freaky: an entire 23-acre lake vanished in a matter of days, as if someone pulled the plug on a bathtub.

Lake Chesterfield went down a sinkhole this week, leaving homeowners in this affluent St. Louis suburb wondering whether their property values disappeared along with their lakeside views.

"It's real creepy," said Donna Ripp, who lives near what had been Lake Chesterfield. "That lake was 23 acres – no small lake. And to wake up one morning, drive by and it's gone?"

What once was an oasis for waterfowl and sailboats was nothing but a muddy, crackled pit outlined by rotting fish.

The sight had 74-year-old George English scratching his head.

"It's disheartening, getting out on your deck and seeing this," he said as he stood next to wife, Betty, and the "lakeside" condominium they bought in 1996 for its view. "One day it's a beautiful lake and now, bingo, it's gone."

Sam Leone/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Residents of Wildwood, Mo., are concerned about their property values now that the 23-acre Lake Chesterfield is nothing more than a muddy indentation.

Some residents said they noticed that the lake, after being swelled by torrential rains weeks earlier, began falling last weekend. The Englishes said they noticed the drop-off Monday.

By Wednesday, the man-made lake – normally seven to 10 feet deep in spots – had been reduced to a mucky, stinky mess.

David Taylor, a geologist who inspected the lake bed Wednesday, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the sinkhole was formed when water eroded the limestone deep underground and created pockets in the rock. The sinkhole was "like a ticking time bomb."

The lake and surrounding housing development date to the late 1980s. The development now includes more than 670 condominiums and houses, about one-tenth of them bordering the lake.

Because the lake is private property, the subdivision's residents will have to cover the cost of fixing it, probably through special property assessments. Mr. English expects it to cost $1,000 a household.

It is a price Mr. English said he is willing to pay. He just wants the unsightly pit gone, either by refilling it with water or dumping enormous amounts of dirt into it to create green space or usable land.

"I think it'll come back again," he said. "You have to hope they can fix it."

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/061204dnnatsinkhole.29cc.html

[RightWhale]

either by refilling it with water or dumping enormous amounts of dirt into it

Muck it out and deepen it while you have the chance, people.

[Missouri]

There are a lot of suppumps downtown to drain the springs that used to feed Chouteau's Pond.

That makes sense. I hear that they might start up Chouteaus pond again as a tourist attraction.

[listenhillary]

Don't think there was any natural gas pockets in the St. Louis area. St.Louis is built on major karst formations. = many caves and pockets.

THE LOST CAVES OF ST. LOUIS

http://www.prairieghosts.com/lostcave.html

While not necessarily haunted, the caves of St. Louis represent one of the most strange and mysterious elements of this fascinating city. The entire city of St. Louis is built upon a huge and complex system of natural caves. In fact, no other city on earth has as many caves beneath its streets, sidewalks and buildings. While most of them have been abandoned and closed off, they have not been forgotten and many tales, stories, legends and accounts of their unusual history are still told today.
Caves were used as man’s earliest storage cellars. Thanks to the natural coolness of them, food and other items could be stored in them and kept from spoiling. This was perfect for the lagering that was done to beer by St. Louis brewers. Adam Lemp, who first brought lager beer to thirsty St. Louisans, was the first of the German brewers to put the caves to work for him, but he was far from the only one.

[Desdemona]

I hear that they might start up Chouteaus pond again as a tourist attraction.

Why not. There's not much where it used to be anymore. All the housing projects are gone.

[Hildy]

I think the title refers to her career.

[RightWhale]

In my own area which was largely built on a reclaimed swamp, houses are sinking into the ground. And the taxpayers will have to pay for it, while the builders get off free.

Proper procedure is to place a warning disclaimer on each building permit.

Warning! This parcel was once part of the seabed. It will be again eventually. Build something that floats.

[RightWhale]

Pittsburgh is like that, too. It's the coal mines. Every once in a while a neighborhood will suddenly drop a few feet when the old mine underneath collapses.

[Willie Green]

There is a new lake in China.

Maybe Spencer Abraham and Robert Zoellick traded it to the OPECkers for oil.
You know... that "comparative advantage" stuff where we trade stuff they need for stuff we need.
I understand it's supposed to make us RICH!

[al baby]

"

[Desdemona]

While the cave history is very true for the city, mostly downtown, it doesn't really explain north county and west county. Wildwood is at least 25 miles from where I live and I live a good 7-8 miles from downtown. This is a much bigger place than people think.

[Desdemona]

Now that I think about it, one of the arch legs sits on a cavern that was filled in with concrete before they started stacking it.

[Missouri]

You mean Spencer "Open Borders" Abraham?

[kitkat]

***Warning! This parcel was once part of the seabed. It will be again eventually. Build something that floats.***

LOL!

[listenhillary]

Bonhomme creek is a losing creek. Water has to go somewhere, must be draining into a karst system.

http://www.ewgateway.org/pdffiles/library/waterquality/wildwood.pdf Search for Karst in PDF file. I can't cut and past the text.

The city of Wildwood lies on the North eastern edge of the Ozark Plateau. Losing streams are prevalent.

[Willie Green]

Yep. Ol' Spence never could get his grubby hands on enough H-1B visas to wallpaper the planet,
So I imagine 9/11 must've caused a temporary setback for his agenda...
With the droughts that the nation has been suffering for the past few years, it wouldn't surprise me if he's trading our water for oil.

[tacticalogic]

Around here it isn't uncommon to drill into limestone, and suddely hit a big pocket of sand.

[wideminded]

David Taylor, a geologist who inspected the lake bed Wednesday, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the sinkhole was formed when water eroded the limestone deep underground and created pockets in the rock.

This only makes sense if the "pockets in the rock" were created by water a long time ago, and this water eventually dryed up before the lake was formed.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

The New Madrid Fault is about 170 miles south of this lake in Chesterfield (near St Louis). The granddaddy of all earthquakes in North America, and particularly away from the west coast, was the 1811-1812 series of three great quakes on the New Madrid Fault (halfway between St. Louis and Memphis beneath the Mississippi), which shook the entire United States. The next time the New Madrid Fault produces such a quake, it is estimated 60 percent of Memphis will be devastated, leaving $50 Billion in damage and thousands of dead in its wake. Memphis, you see, has looked down the barrel of a loaded seismic gun for decades, but has done virtually nothing to move out of the cross-hairs.

For 7 years I lived in West Tennessee, near the Mississippi River, and crow-fly distance about 34 miles from New Madrid, MO. We felt the earth shake mildly several times a year, usually at 2.5 - 3.5 magnitude, a small fraction of the intensity of the 1811-1812 quakes. Reel-foot Lake, about 30 miles north of where I lived, was formed during the 1811-1812 quakes. Legend has it that the Mississippi reversed direction for a spell during one of those quakes.

If/when a quake of the 1811-1812 magnitude occurs again, the devastation will be extensive, and not just in and around Memphis. Buildings likely will be leveled from St Louis to Memphis, and reaching westward into Missouri, and eastward into Kentucky and Tennessee.

[VRWC For Truth]

Should have called these guys.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

Missouri is known as "the cave state". I think the entire state has more caves than any other in the U.S.

From the price of these homes, $1,000 isn't going to hurt any of them if it really fixes it. What a mess!!