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A large sinkhole opened up near Route 23 in West Hempfield Township on Tuesday - and it might be fixed very soon.

The sinkhole is 20 to 25 feet deep and ranges from 8 to 10 feet wide at the surface to 30 to 40 feet wide underground, township police Sgt. Russell Geier said.

The hole is in a retention-pond area about 50 feet north of Route 23, near Corporate Boulevard.

Dale Getz has worked as the township's director of public works for five years, and in municipal government for about 20 years.

The sinkhole is the largest of the five or six he has seen during that time, but curious residents should keep their distance, he said.

"It wouldn't be advisable to get near it, because there's no stable ground underneath," he said.

The township erected a temporary fence around the sinkhole to prevent anyone from falling into it.

Murry Realty owns the property, Geier said. A call to the company Wednesday was not immediately returned.

Getz said the company is responsible for fixing the problem.

"If the township and local governments took care of every sinkhole that opens up, we'd really be broke," Getz said.

Authorities have already been notified that an emergency excavation is planned for the site, he said. That work could potentially start as early as today.

Getz has not heard how the sinkhole will be fixed. Concrete typically provides a permanent solution, he said.

"You put in concrete to choke the throat of the sinkhole, where everything is running into," Getz said.

Sinkholes often open up after heavy rains, he explained.

A heavy rainstorm last fall or even Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 could have eroded dirt under the surface, eventually triggering Tuesday's sinkhole.

"It could have been going on underground a long time and then, all of a sudden, boom, there it is," Getz said. "It's no one's negligence. It's Mother Nature."