Sinkhole risk in Hamilton County, NY: No soluble rock mapped

The next step for one property

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

That works out to roughly 12 of Hamilton County's 1,717 square miles on soluble rock. With about 5,082 residents (3 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 286 map points about 2.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Hamilton County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 227 miles southwest. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Hamilton County stands out from its surroundings.

• Herkimer County, NY 18 mi west · 0% at surface
• Warren County, NY 34 mi east · 0% at surface
• Fulton County, NY 38 mi south · under 1% at surface
• Essex County, NY 48 mi northeast · 0% at surface
• Lewis County, NY 48 mi west · 0% at surface
• Saratoga County, NY 50 mi southeast · under 1% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Calcitic and dolomitic marble (marble), Middle Proterozoic in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of New York

Hamilton County ranks 24 of 62 in New York for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• New York County under 1%
• St. Lawrence County under 1%
• Saratoga County under 1%
• Cayuga County under 1%
• Clinton County under 1%