From cracks to compensation: How one man solved his sinking mine problem
There’s hope for residents in their reported sinking homes in Belleville. Underground mining may be responsible for cracking and shifting, which some fear is taking their homes. Illinois has a special insurance fund to help those with such unexpected surprises.
BELLEVILLE, Ill. – There’s hope for residents in their reported sinking homes in Belleville. Underground mining may be responsible for cracking and shifting, which some fear is taking their homes. Illinois has a special insurance fund to help those with such unexpected surprises.
From the disappearing Alton soccer field that collapsed from a suspected underground mine to the Belleville grocery store closed for safety reasons. Chances are, if you live in Illinois, you are near a hidden mine.
Water is pouring into Shanee Carpenter’s Belleville home through a crack in her basement, which seems to grow by the day. Suddenly, it burst open, dividing her home in half.
“You can feel that a certain part of my house is leaning,” she said.
Carpenter had geotechnical investigators measuring her damage recently. She said they told her it could take a while to confirm that her reported damages are connected to an underground mine.
“Would you think it would be safe?!?” Carpenter said.
It’s a common question when you consider there are so many underground abandoned mines in Illinois that they affect about 330,000 homes. That’s why Illinois has a special fund set up to help.
“I’ve been through it,” Ron Frauenfelder said. “They monitored over the course of a year.”
Frauenfelder contacted the Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund, which was created to assure money is available for homeowners with houses damaged by mine subsidence.
“They give you an initial payment once they determine that you do indeed have mine subsidence,” he said.
Frauenfelder said he got $118,000 in the end.
“I was told personally it is a slow process,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said she’s been working with the fund since June, with no answer yet – while hearing that regular reminder when that water gushes through her basement crack every couple minutes.
It happens rain or shine. “It frightens me. I just pray to God,” she said.
Frauenfelder said he’d about given up hope before his eventual payout.
“The Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund is a first-class organization. She has got nothing to worry about, Chris,” he said.
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