SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Wayne County, NY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock
70%
At or near the surface
0%
Buried under cover
70%

What to do about a house in Wayne 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 420 of Wayne County's 604 square miles on soluble rock. With about 90,757 residents (150 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 322 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and why the 70% under cover still counts.

Counties around Wayne County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 156 miles south. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Wayne County stands out from its surroundings.

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Vernon Formation (shale), Upper Silurian in age, covering about 26% of the county. Next is the Camillus and Syracuse Formations at 23%.

The county also lies over the Michigan Basin; Ohio Basin; Appalachian Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of New York

Wayne County ranks 59 of 62 in New York for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.