UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A conversation on a community app may have been some of the last messages from 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard.
A neighbor said she saw Pollard’s missing cat near Monday’s restaurant. It’s believed Pollard was looking for the cat when she fell into a sinkhole last week outside the restaurant. It took crews 80 hours to find her body.
Doug Prah lives in the community right above where Pollard fell into the mine.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family foremost. Being so close and seeing that literally in your own backyard,” Prah said.
He never thought about getting mine subsidence insurance until last week.
“I guess it could happen anywhere. You always kind of think that but it just causes a little bit of concern. For safety first and foremost - but then for our physical belongings and the structures in this area,” Prah said.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection says the state is home to one-third of the national abandoned mine lands.
“Especially with all the mines that we’ve had over the years in our area. This has historically been an area, and still is today, where we mine coal so it’s definitely prevalent- not just here in Unity township,” Prah said.
Prah already contacted his insurance agent to add mine subsidence coverage offered by the DEP. The DEP continues to work to stabilize the mine. They will be drilling and pumping a cement-like grout into the mine. Authorities have said that Monday’s restaurant and the parking lot around it are safe.
The DEP says if anyone is concerned about mine subsidence on their property to give them a call.
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