Durham neighborhood concerned over growing sinkhole
DURHAM, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A Durham neighborhood is concerned about a small sinkhole that continues to grow.
Thomas Parrish says he first noticed the hole this past summer.
"A pipe burst and water was coming up and filled the ground up and went all down the street," Thomas recalled.
Thomas walks by the growing hole every day. He worries about the safety of others, especially children.
"I seen the kids, kids playing in the hole," Thomas explained. "I was like 'Don't, that's dangerous!' So I called the police."
After he called the police, Thomas said officers put caution tape around the hole. He still didn't think it was safe enough.
"I went downtown and the city said it wasn't their problem. I talked to housing authority and they said it wasn't their problem. It's just dirt that needs to be put in this hole."
Eventually, orange fencing was put up around the hole to prevent children from playing near it. Still, the hole just kept growing. Thomas decided to reach out to me.
I got in touch with the city and a representative said that the hole is on Durham Housing Authority's property and DHA is are aware of it.
"Because it is on private property, not city property, it is their responsibility," a DHA representative explained. "The City, as a courtesy to DHA, videotaped the line after getting permission, since it was on private property to determine how much of the line had failed. This was just before Christmas."
A representative from the DHA said officials are working to get this resolved as quickly as possible and that they had to get contractors to visit the site to obtain estimates on repairing the broken pipe and filling the hole.
It took some time, but the hole is finally filled and DHA has fixed the water pipe issue. Thomas is happy his neighborhood is no longer burdened with this dangerous eyesore.
