Frequently Asked Questions

Karst is an erosional landscape in which all rainfall drains underground through sinkholes and sinking streams into caves and underground rivers. Karst terrains usually form on limestone where cracks and fissures become enlarged through solution and water drains to springs on land or in rivers.

A sinkhole is a basin-like depression in the ground that might open suddenly, or slowly over a period of years. They vary in size from a couple of feet to hundreds of feet across. Many are circular but some are oblong, ranging from a few feet deep to 100 feet deep or more. Sinkholes conduct rain runoff water downward into underground caves and rivers.

Land with sinkholes is unstable and generally poor for construction of any kind without extraordinary and expensive subsurface investigation. Three processes enlarge sinkholes: 1) rocks are dissolved by weakly acidic water, 2) they fall by gravity into the resulting voids, cavities, and caves, and 3) the water transports fallen material away to make the voids larger. In short, the ground around a sinkhole perpetually becomes more unstable.

With their full load, the large sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) of the proposed sewage plant would weigh an estimated 15 million pounds. Fragile karst land might not support this much weight because the ground is hollow. Karst collapse could damage equipment and/or foundations, causing loss of containment of the sewage into the area and groundwater.

Not without spending a great deal of money. In some cases, dumping rocks into a sinkhole can mitigate the problem, but this is likely just a temporary fix as the sinkhole will usually open up again. This is because most sinkholes actually have multiple holes downward as well as openings sideways between rock beds. They resemble a cook's colander. When site engineers, consultants, and contractors are not aware of sinkhole dangers—and do not account for these hazards in their design and construction—the result will be facilities and structures that might crack, collapse, and fail. Any repair and replacement costs would be high; we could end up paying for the facility twice.

The caves and underground rivers have a restricted drainage capacity to carry excess water. When the amount of water exceeds capacity, the water rises in the underground conduits and boils out onto the surface, spreading over sinkholes and land. In time the water will drain and the underground rivers will return to normal stage flow.

Normally, rivers flood by periodically overflowing their banks. As water spreads out, its velocity slows and sediment load drops out and is deposited. The receding flood deposits very rich soil on this bottomland, gained at the expense of upstream farmers. If the stream banks originally contained sinkholes, they will open again, sometimes quickly. The Sharp Farm is located on a flat, shallow karst floodplain in the valley bottom.

Any floodplain is subject to repeat flooding—which will undermine structures built upon it. Federal law disallows building major projects on floodplains because of prohibitive repair and insurance costs. Any proposal to build a floodwall around the plant would be futile, because flood water would come upward through sinkholes—inside the floodwall. Ground instability plus flooding equal high risk. $20 million of taxpayer money is too much to risk on a bad site.

They did. But others, apparently unfamiliar with the karst dangers inherent in the site, said it was OK to build. If money is no object, one can build anything on a karst floodplain. But money is very much an object in this matter. The project was originally estimated to cost $13 million with a $36 monthly user fee. Now, the project is estimated at $20 million (and growing) with a $54 monthly fee. This is before the project has even broken ground. And there is presently no money in the project for safely mitigating any "unexpected" karst hazards.

Since karst land is inherently unstable, structures built upon it often crack, slump, or collapse. In this case, millions of gallons of raw sewage can spill into the underground drainage. The current plan is to install a five mile raw sewage PVC pipeline with manholes and pumping stations down through the Big Spring Fork Valley—which has over 68 known karst features including springs, caves, and sinks. Any failure of this transport system could result in contamination of the underground stream and local groundwater. This can contaminate drinking water wells which could take 10-20 years to recover. Karst land is extremely vulnerable to contamination because underground streams provide no natural purification; there is no sunlight, aeration, or filtration.

No. In karst areas, contaminated liquids sink underground within a few minutes. Pump-and-treat methods do not work in karst areas.

The purpose is to force the DEP and other involved agencies to obey the law regarding public input and environmental safety. A complete environmental assessment must be performed, involving requisite geological and hydrological studies, in order to ensure the soundness of any plan to construct a sewage treatment facility in this area.

Of course, but approximately 2,000 homeowners already benefit from sewage treatment provided by Snowshoe Water and Sewer, Inc. Essentially, what is being proposed is to spend $20 million of taxpayer money to hook up about 160 homes not already benefiting from the existing system—homes that each already have septic systems—and to raise everybody's sewage rates in the process. The best and most economical solution might be to treat the sewage where it originates: up on the mountain.

Membrane technology (see Immersed Membrane Technology In Action) is a new but thoroughly proven sewage treatment method that produces higher quality effluent than the proposed treatment plant. It is currently being used at other ski resorts and island resorts. Estimates show that this method could save $3 to $5 million under the projected cost of the Slatyfork plant. Membrane technology is just one of many alternatives that have not been considered.