CBS2 Demanding Answers: City Says It's Not Responsible For Staten Island Backyard Sinkhole
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Staten Island man said a sinkhole caused by a broken pipe is threatening his home, but the city said it is not their problem.
The man, Morris Indig, has been left fighting to figure out who is going to fix the sinkhole, and CBS2's Tracee Carrasco was demanding answers Thursday night.
Water has been gushing through Indig's backyard in the Grasmere section of Staten Island. It has caused the pavement to crumble and has created a sinkhole nearly 15 feet long – creeping dangerously close to his home.
"It's eroding the soil all around here, including near my foundation wall," Indig said. "This slab is starting to tip towards the hole already, and I'm really nervous that something is going to happen to the house."
The problem started weeks ago after heavy rain. Indig believes the pipe carrying water from nearby Brady's Pond to Cameron Lake, located next to his house, caused the massive hole.
"I can't get this repaired until the water stops running," Indig said. "The city won't stop the water."
Indig said the Department of Environmental Protection came out to look at the sinkhole, and even ran a test with green dye to see where the water flows.
But a DEP representative said the pipe is not theirs. Indig, though, is not buying it.
"This is the city. This is the DEP. They're trying to blame everyone else except themselves," Indig said. "I'm in the middle again."
The DEP said it does not know who owns the pipe. They said it could be the Cameron Club of Staten Island, which is in charge of Brady's Pond.
However, the club president told CBS2 that even though Brady's Pond is privately owned, it contributes to the Storm Management Watershed program, so the city should fix the pipe.
"I'm just at my wit's end already," Indig said.
Indig said he wants something done before it's too late.