During the spring of 1994, a man driving his minivan near Westminster, Maryland, plunged to his death in a sinkhole that suddenly opened up in the road. His widow sued a local mining company for $13.5 million, claiming that it was responsible for the development of this sinkhole.
Read the following article and answer the questions below. As is common with newspaper articles, this one does not provide all of the information we might like to have to evaluate the validity of the widow's claim. However, using the geologic information available for this region and your understanding of how sinkholes form, it is possible to at least have an informed opinion about what happened and what additional information would be needed to further evaluate this case.
The state of Maryland and Redland Genstar, Inc., are each being sued for $13.5 million by the widow of a man who was killed when his minivan plunged into a sinkhole on Maryland Route 31.
One early morning in March of 1994, Robert W. Knight, 24, was driving down a darkened stretch of pavement between Westminster and New Windsor when the road ran out. Sometime during the night a 45-foot-wide hole had developed without warning that the driver never saw until it was too late. The Taneytown native died at a hospital later that day.
Sinkholes can occur when underground limestone or marble bedrock slowly dissolves, leaving behind caves that eventually become so large that they collapse.
In her suit against the state and Genstar, based in Hunt Valley, the plaintiff claims emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, financial support and other losses on her part and on behalf of her two children. Her suit was filed in Carroll County Circuit Court and targets a Medford quarry situated close to the sinkhole site and belonging to Genstar.
According to the suit, Genstar failed to look into possible hazards, failed to provide the state with reports on the impact of the mining, failed to prevent sinkholes on Route 31 and failed to warn the public of possible danger. The suit further alleges that “Genstar drew off billions of gallons of water from underground streams and severely lowered the water table, leading to the development of sinkholes throughout the immediate area surrounding the quarry and the sinkhole on Route 31 in which Robert Wayne Knight lost his life.”
A spokesman for Genstar denied responsibility for the accident. According to a recent state law, “spheres of influence” are drawn around quarries indicating areas in which sinkholes and other geologic activity can be attributed to mining activity. A company is liable for property damage within these spheres if it is caused by its mining activity. However, Genstar claims that the area where the sinkhole occurred on Route 31 lies outside the company’s jurisdiction.
*Based on an original 1996 AP article, “Mining firm sued for $13.5 million, WESTMINSTER, Md.”
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