Sinkhole risk in Orange County, VT: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 52%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 52%

What to do about a house in Orange County

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 354 of Orange County's 687 square miles on soluble rock. With about 30,050 residents (44 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 241 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why the 52% under cover still counts, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Orange County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 318 miles southwest. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Washington County, VT 22 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Grafton County, NH 27 mi east · 0% at surface
Windsor County, VT 32 mi south · 0% at surface
Caledonia County, VT 35 mi north · 0% at surface
Addison County, VT 38 mi west · under 1% at surface
Rutland County, VT 44 mi southwest · under 1% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Waits River Formation (limestone), Devonian in age, covering about 52% of the county.

Against the rest of Vermont

Orange County ranks 11 of 14 in Vermont for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.