Article updated: 9/16/2012 6:40 AM

Who's to blame for East Dundee sinkhole?

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The asphalt in front of Dundee Automotive has buckled more than five inches in the last few days. Employees spray painted the crack when it was even.

Christopher Hankins | Staff Photographer

Buckling pavement and a large sinkhole are creating major problems for owner Randy Klemm at Dundee Automotive.

Christopher Hankins | Staff Photographer

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With the pavement buckling in front of the service bays, bags of construction materials had to be placed beneath the drop off so cars wouldn't bottom out going in and out of the garage bays.

Christopher Hankins | Staff Photographer

Dundee Automotive owner Randy Klemm believes that a broken water pipe beneath the parking lot in front of the East Dundee business is causing the parking lot to collapse. Here, Klemm pokes a screwdriver, which is more than a foot long, into a hole beneath the buckling asphalt.

Christopher Hankins | Staff Photographer

About this Article

It started innocently enough at Dundee Automotive with a small dip in the parking lot eight weeks ago. But it since has developed into heaving pavement and a large sinkhole that threatens to pull the East Dundee mechanic shop down with it, owner Randy Klemm said. Klemm suspects that an old pipe that once connected the area to a spring is under his parking lot and is to blame for his situation.He has notified both East Dundee and West Dundee of the situation and filed a claim with the Illinois Department of Transportation, which owns the right of way in front of his shop at Route 72 near Route 68. Officials from neither town are taking responsibility for what's happened

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