HOLIDAY — As a result of several ground depressions that opened in the Holiday Travel Park earlier this month, geotechnical experts have been examining the area to see if work being done by Pasco County Utilities played a part in creating the holes.
The county announced Monday that work on its sewage pump station project in the area will continue to wait until after Thanksgiving weekend.
Suspending construction may be costly, but officials say the precaution is the "appropriate thing to do to ensure the county is not doing anything to aggravate the depression activity in the neighborhood," according to a news release from county spokesman Doug Tobin.
The pump station project on Bartelt Road in Holiday is "very close" to the two depressions that opened in the mobile home park, according to the county.
"At this time we are not ready to resume work," Tobin said in the release. The project will not resume until the geotechnical firm consultants tell the county how best to proceed, he said.
The county is explaining its temporary hold on construction in letters to residents on Torch Street, where the initial two depressions opened on Nov. 10 and 11. Two other depressions have since opened in other neighborhoods.
Residents who are worried about when they can return to their homes should consult their insurance provider, as well as the insurance carrier for the Holiday Travel Park, Tobin said.
The county has said it will call the holes "depressions" until a geotechnical expert classifies them as sinkholes. A private geotechnical expert told the Tampa Bay Times in early November that the two holes in the Holiday Travel Park are sinkholes.