Three sinkholes opened in Phillipsburg last week, prompting the town to issue a state of emergency and leaving 26 people displaced or with gas service interruption.
The first two sinkholes opened near the Lewis Street and Summit Avenue intersection on Feb. 17, swallowing a car and a garbage truck. The incident closed Summit Avenue as city forces worked to repair the damage and extract vehicles.
Later that day, a truck carrying asphalt to the site fell into a newly formed sinkhole. There have been no reported injuries, according to a city news release on Feb. 20.
The exact cause of the sinkholes is “kind of undetermined,” according to Phillipsburg Mayor Randy Piazza Jr.
“We’re looking at a couple of different scenarios, most likely being water main leaks,” Piazza said, noting that exact determinations could not be made “until we get a qualified professional in there.”
By Wednesday night, the affected streets were expected to reopen on Friday. Initial repairs to the affected roadway are complete, but Aqua New Jersey, a water utility company, still needs to fix a water line that broke when a vehicle fell through a sinkhole, according to Piazza.
About 100 houses lost power, and up to 30 houses had no water as underground lines were compromised. Service was restored by the morning of Feb. 20, according to a city announcement. Residents nearest to the sinkholes temporarily had gas power shut off, although Elizabethtown Gas later announced gas had been restored.
Seven homes were deemed unsafe, and residents were ordered to evacuate.
Eric, a Phillipsburg resident who was ordered to evacuate, said that he was out of town when the evacuation was announced. He learned of it when he saw his house on the news.
“There was a sticker that said ‘Do not enter,’” said Eric, who declined to provide his last name. “I could see the red sticker on my door in a news article.”
He said that he has since received a letter from the town saying the house was uninhabitable, with no timeline on when he and his family could return.
Piazza said that evacuated residents could return to their homes only after a specialist assessed their safety.
“We were fortunate that we have a second home,” Eric said. “Most people in Phillipsburg are not that fortunate.”
Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. noted that the area is prone to sinkholes and said that residents should consider getting sinkhole insurance, which is part of various homeowner insurance plans. Lafayette College is no stranger to sinkholes; the last developed a year ago, outside of Pardee Hall.