Sinkhole risk in Butler County, KY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 20%
At or near the surface: 20%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 83 of Butler County's 426 square miles on soluble rock, 83 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,551 residents (29 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 539 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Butler County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Warren County, KY, about 20 miles southeast, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Butler County stands out from its surroundings.

Warren County, KY 20 mi southeast · 89% at surface
Ohio County, KY 21 mi northwest · 4% at surface
Muhlenberg County, KY 25 mi west · 4% at surface
Grayson County, KY 25 mi northeast · 60% at surface
Edmonson County, KY 26 mi east · 50% at surface
Logan County, KY 26 mi southwest · 93% at surface

What Butler County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Rocks of Chesterian age, upper part (shale), Upper Mississippian in age, covering about 13% of the county. Next is the Rocks of Chesterian age, lower part at 7%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Butler County ranks 68 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 74% of US counties on that measure.