The sinkhole in the Coplay Creek in Hokendauqua, which has swallowed the running water and left the creek dry, is getting larger. The problem has been ongoing since June.

Whitehall Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. told The Press on Friday the sinkhole has the attention of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection with hopes the problem could be resolved.

Hozza said the creek is dry.

The sinkhole is not on township property but on the private Tate Farm - Whitehall Tamco LLC properties - which is located behind the township’s public works building.

Initially, there were two sinkholes in the Coplay Creek. Township Engineer Frank Clark and a geologist from Keystone Consulting Engineers did a site evaluation of the area for the Tate family and the township. The initial finding indicated there was a 7-foot void under the creek and traveling under the corn field.

A subsequent rainstorm resulted in an increase of water flow in the creek, due to stormwater runoff that filled the initial void, then overflowed back into the Coplay Creek flowing downstream. At that time, in late June, the water was flowing over the two sinkholes and disappearing downstream.

A remediation plan discussed with the Tate family, Hozza said, involved temporarily relocating the creek in the affected area, filling the void with specialized concrete called flowable fill, letting the concrete cure, putting a waterproof membrane over the former openings and then relocating the creek back to its natural state.

The township had to call off the annual children’s fishing contest on the creek at Hokendauqua Park & Playground because trout could not be stocked. The plastic duck race as part of Stroll on the Parkway on the Ironton Rail Trail had to be on land, since the creek was dry in September.