Year after woman dies in sinkhole, neighbors still worry another may open up

UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — It has been a year since a woman died after falling through a sinkhole and into an old mine behind Monday’s Union Restaurant in Unity Township.

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Cheryl Koloshinsky lives right across the street. She says she now lives in constant fear of another sinkhole opening up.

“I want to know, am I safe in my own home? Because I don’t feel I am anymore,” Koloshinsky said.

She said her father and uncle used to work in the mine across the street from her home. She knows the dangers of living there.

“I’m 66. I’m well aware of what my surroundings are. I just never expected someone to fall in a mine and die. Never,” said Koloshinsky

One year ago, Elizabeth Pollard died after falling into an abandoned mine while looking for her pet cat.

She was found 4 days later on December 6th, and the hole was filled shortly after.

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Koloshinsky said she’s noticed her land changing in the past few years.

“I used to mow around that circle. Right at the end of the guardrail, it’s sunk down about this far. I can’t even push my mower through there anymore. I have to go the opposite way, ” said Koloshinsky

After finding Elizabeth Pollard’s body, the State Department of Environmental Protection told Channel 11, crews poured more than 68-thousand gallons of grout into the abandoned mine under Monday’s Union Restaurant. They said the grout would help stabilize the mine in hopes of preventing another sinkhole. Still, Koloshinsky feels more should be done.

“I’d like a study to be done. Right now, I’d like them to come out every so often and walk to the ground, walk the area,” said Koloshinsky. “There is no assurance. When they filled up that mine, did that actually protect the rest of us? None of us knows that!”

Koloshinsky said the mine runs all the way up Marguerite Road. She wants the new homeowners to be aware of the land they are living on.

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