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Ballincollig

A sinkhole leaking sewage opened in this Cork housing estate

The council have fenced it off and are set to fix the broken pipe beneath.

A SINKHOLE LEAKING sewage opened up at a housing estate in Cork over the weekend.

The hole is located on the green in the large Classes Lake estate and was spotted when a local was out walking.

Local Fine Gael councillor Derry Canty, who lives in Ballincollig, told TheJournal.ie that once the council was informed, the area was fenced off. 

Journalist Eoin English from the Irish Examiner said locals reported a dog had been rescued from the sinkhole, but Cllr Canty could not confirm this.

“I was up there yesterday evening,” said Cllr Canty. “[The cause is] a sewerage line. The line to the sewerage tank is after collapsing. There was always a lag in the middle of the green, and water was coming into that area.”

He said he spoke to the council’s local engineer, who told him work on repairing the sinkhole will begin tomorrow morning.

Cllr Canty explained that there are two sewerage holding tanks in the middle of the green. A pipe – or line – runs from these tanks to a larger tank a distance away under the main road. This pipe broke, which led to the sinkhole, and some sewage leaking into the green.

“We are asking people to stay away from it,” said Cllr Canty. “As far as we are concerned, it is sewerage [in the pipes].”

He said that the Ballincollig area is susceptible to subsidence, and that in recent years the council has had to begin replacing the pipes in the main street due to frequent bursts.

Classes Lake is on the western side of Ballincollig and contains about 500 homes.

Read: Sinkhole opens up in a housing estate in Cork>

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