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Richard Erker, a resident of the
Harbors at Lake Chesterfield, looks out over what
used to be a 23-acre lake in the subdivision.
(Rick Graefe photo/Suburban Journals) |
Many of the 1,800 residents of the 676
homes in the Harbors at Lake Chesterfield subdivision
in Wildwood will be asking questions Thursday, during
a trustees meeting, about a lake that isn't there.
"Never in the wildest part of my
imagination could I foresee our lake becoming bone dry
in a matter of days," said Bruce L. Colella, chairman
of the board of trustees for the homeowners association.
Colella made the statement in a letter
delivered to homeowners a few days ago, after the 23-acre
lower lake, off Pierside Lane, drained completely of
millions of gallons of water into a sinkhole between
June 6 and June 9.
Colella later told a reporter he "started
to notice something June 6."
"The lake was down in water level
about five feet June 7; down another eight feet June
8; and by 11 a.m. June 9, it was empty — and smelly,"
he said.
During the weekend, dozens of residents
watched herons and other birds seek out dead fish on
the lake bed, which is bordered by about 60 subdivision
condos, the subdivision pool and clubhouse.
"As soon as it became apparent
that more than the sinkhole on the eastern shoreline,
that developed a month or so ago, was at work here,
we immediately contacted our lake geologist (David Taylor
of Strata Services)," Colella wrote to residents.
"The rapid draw down (of water)
foretold that something major was happening. There is
a 60- to 80-foot-wide 'moon crater' southeast of the
spillway near the dam at the lower end of the lake (which
drained the water)," he wrote.
Taylor has told subdivision officials
the lake can be repaired.
"(But) it is still much too early
to know what the best method will be or how long it
will take and how much it will cost," Colella wrote.
Colella said the subdivision also is
working with its lake biologist and the environmental
engineer hired by Wildwood on the residents' behalf
for dealing with storm-water runoff into the subdivision's
upper lake — which did not drain — from the
adjacent Enclaves at Cherry Hills subdivision, now under
construction.
Harbors at Lake Chesterfield homeowners
have hired off-duty St. Louis County police officers
to patrol the lake site area overnight, and police have
taped off some areas around the lake.
"The lake bed is currently a very
dangerous place," Colella wrote.
"In addition to the deep mud, who
is to say where another sinkhole is or is not?"
he said. "I implore you to talk to your children
about this and make sure they do not try to walk out
on the lake bed."
How did the disaster happen?
"It is still much too soon to know,
but nothing is being discounted," Colella wrote.
"Could it have been caused by blasting at the Enclaves
of Cherry Hills site or from the weight of additional
sediment from storm-water runoff from that site?"
He said both the 20-year-old lower lake
and upper lake are built over an area of deep underground
caverns and rock formations, which is why "we have
periodically experienced leaks in the past, but certainly
nothing of this magnitude."
"We currently have $6,000 reserved
for repairing lake leaks based on our history of spending
$30,000 every five years or so on lake leak repairs…….."
he wrote, adding there's also a small contingency reserve.
But it's unlikely sufficient reserve
funds are in hand for this kind of a fix, he said.
"Although we were aware that another
leak may occur based on past history, none of us anticipated
a leak of this magnitude," he wrote.
"It's clear there's been silt damage,"
he said later. "There is no vegetation at all in
the lake bed, and environmental engineer, Dennis Stack,
hired by Wildwood on our behalf to deal with the Cherry
Hills situation, plans to further examine the lake bed,
because he said a visual inspection indicates there
could be silt in excess of a couple of feet in depth
there."
Caroline Hermeling, an attorney representing
the Enclaves at Cherry Hills developer JMB No. 2 LLC,
said the firm "denies any causal connection between
any activity at the Enclaves with the existence of a
sinkhole, which seems to be a geological condition."
She said city-requested soundings of
the upper lake taken June 4 indicate no measurable difference
of more than 6 inches in the water level between March
2003, when construction began, and June of this year,
which would indicate silt deposits.
"It's inconceivable to believe
the lower lake, which is farther away from us, would
be affected, and there is absolutely no basis to conclude
the Enclaves had anything to do with the sinkhole in
the lower lake," she said.
Ryan Thomas, Wildwood's director of
public works, said the city has contacted the St. Louis
County departments of health and vector control.
"Because with that mud and standing
water, they will need to treat for mosquitoes and investigate
the health issues of dead fish remaining in the lake,"
Thomas said.
Jo Jacaty, a subdivision resident, said
she was "horrified" at the situation.
"And it's a shame, because we've
spent so much on the lakes," she said.
Another resident, Becky Sparling, said
the drained lake might adversely affect property values.
"I can see tons of dead mussels
and fish, and a bike, and some Christmas trees they
tell us not to dump in the lakes," Jordan said. |
