By: Ginny Washbish
If you are having a bad day, take comfort in the fact that you don’t reside in the west end of Louisville. But if by chance you are a resident of the Parkland area, then you have my condolences. From cisterns to small depressions; it seems that the very earth around us is crumbling…and then being washed away.
A water main break was reported last weekend in the Park DuValle area. While the Louisville Water Company didn’t consider the break to be that large, it definitely did not go unnoticed. Reporters from the Louisville Cardinal confirmed that the break caused a street closing. With Park DuValle being so close in location to Russell Lee Park, many wonder if there is a connection to the recent findings of sink holes and depressions.
According to Councilman Tom Owen the Park DuValle area was “cleared by the Urban Renewal and rebuilt in the 1950’s.”
Kelley Dearing Smith, strategic communications manager of the Louisville Water Company, believes the two are unlikely related.
“Water mains are located four to five feet in the ground, while cisterns are found 10-20 feet deep,” said Dearing Smith. Phillip DiBlasi, staff archaeologist of the University of Louisville, also believes there is no connection.
With the recent attention on the west end of Louisville, local governments are working hard to keep Parkland safe.
According to Ben Jackey, communications specialist of JCPS, trained professionals have surveyed the Kennedy Elementary schoolyard.
“Our facilities and maintenance crews have been out to the school (Kennedy Elementary) and found no sinkholes,” said Jackey. “They said they found some uneven, low areas in the ground that can be leveled with some dirt.”
Photo Courtesy of Google Images
