It has still not been determined who will pay the estimated $35,000 to $53,000 cost of removing the water from the sinkhole in an Alton public park.
Last month, Alton's attorney asked New Frontier Materials to pay for the massive hole in Gordon Moore Park to be "de-watered" so the city's contracted engineers could inspect it. The process is still being worked out, according to the city's mayor.
"How that's going, how that's getting paid, is still to be determined," David Goins said.
Video of the soccer field collapsing in June 2024 and forming the sinkhole that's estimated to be 100 feet wide went viral. Alton closed the entire park and nearby golf course for more than a month.
Last month, the city's attorney, Heidi Eckert, said that if the city didn't receive a response in seven to 10 days from New Frontier Materials, the council would need to front the cost in hopes the city could be reimbursed by the mine company.
"That will be a cost we recoup at the end," Eckert told city council members. "But, ideally, we would like New Frontier to come to the table and pay for that cost."
Eckert declined to comment this week. A representative for New Frontier Materials, which owns the Bluff City Minerals limestone mine, did not respond to a request for comment.
The water removal will be done by Alton-based Stutz Excavating. SCI Engineering will inspect the sinkhole on the city's behalf to conduct an independent study, Goins said, who added that he'd like the work to begin as soon as possible.
This summer, New Frontier Materials produced a 300-page report regarding the sinkhole, which detailed how the mine company plans to repair the soccer field. The report's contents have not been made public because the company does not want to release sensitive information about its mine.
When the city concludes its own report, Goins said officials would be able to discuss and "compare notes" between the two.
Negotiations between legal representatives remain ongoing to determine how the city and company will pay for the repairs needed to restore the field and fill the hole, Goins said.
"We're in the early, early stages of looking at some rough, rough estimates," he said.
Goins compared the city's progress on the sinkhole to a freight train. It takes a little time to build momentum and speed, he said.
"It's like the train is at the station," he said. "The de-watering of the hole is the train beginning to move. Once they're able to do their readings and do their investigation into the sinkhole to determine if there's any movement, if there's any shifting in the sinkhole, that then gives us more momentum towards repairing the sinkhole."
The preliminary theory from the Mine Safety and Health Administration is that an "ancient cave" in the mine filled with sediment and mud over time and eventually collapsed, Goins said shortly after the sinkhole formed. However, New Frontier Materials CEO Mike Clarke said then he was unaware of that theory.
At the city council meeting last month, Alderman John Meehan noted that the sinkhole had been holding water in it, which is a "good sign" because that means the mine underneath had not moved further.
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