Hole Discovered Downstream of Pinto Dam No Threat

The Bureau of Reclamation announced Monday that it has determined a hole discovered 60 feet downstream of the Pinto Dam east of Soap Lake was a result of settling material. The roughly 15 cubic foot hole is said to posses no underlying structural concerns.

The Pinto Dam is about 18 miles east of Soap Lake.

Ephrata Field Office Manager Marc Maynard said the hole, which was about 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep, was excavated and backfilled.

"This sinkhole was just part of the natural, geologic processes in the area." explained Maynard, "Through time there was a void that was under (the surface), and the dirt just dropped down through that void and the sinkhole manifested on the surface."

Maynard added that holes like this are not out of the ordinary. The hole was not a product of water movement, which the Bureau considers the most concerning type of sinkhole.

The Pinto Dam, part of the Columbia Basin Project, is an earthen dam constructed between 1946 and 1948.