Testing begins under Illinois soccer fields swallowed by 100-foot-wide sinkhole

On Tuesday, the US. Mine Safety Administration granted permission for investigative drilling to begin under the city park in Alton, Illinois, where a 100-foot-wide sinkhole opened up and swallowed parts of several soccer fields.

Drilling and geologic inspections are underway at Gordon F. Moore Park as part of remediation efforts after the sinkhole swallowed a set of bleachers and a thirty-foot tall light pole.

Mine subsidence from an underground mine owned by New Frontier Materials caused the 100-feet wide, 30-feet deep sinkhole to open up June 26. Since then debris around the perimeter of the hole has settled lower and the hole was filled with water from recent storms as remnants of Hurricane Beryl moved through.

The park has been closed to the public since the sinkhole opened, with no immediate plans to reopen. 

A meeting is planned for later this week between the city and mine owners to discuss progress and the next steps.

According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, more than 330,000 homes spread out across 201,000 acres in the state are in close proximity to active or old mine works. The attached map shows the number of underground coal mines (shown in orange) in southern Illinois, from St. Louis in the upper left to Harrisburg in the lower right.