Underground camera shows Fraser sinkhole could have been worse

(WJBK) - Video from deep underground the Macomb interceptor shows what hasn't collapsed is cracked and leaking.

The sinkhole you've seen so much of from up above - could have been much worse.

"We were able to get into the interceptor," said Louis Urban, engineer. "There is approximately 130 feet of that on the east side of collapse that has continued to show signs of failure. It actually has failed it just hasn't collapsed at this point."

The solution - a fiberglass liner that will go inside the interceptor and protect it from further damage. It is made in Texas and should be done in about three months. The cost is expected to be about $6.2 million.

The cost for people who live and work here? Just ask them.

"It's been terrible, just really gross living over here," said Megan Leonatti. "All the traffic it has caused over on Utica, we can't even go out there anymore, it is congested."

"The worst part is the smell," said Kathy Leonatti. "I would say it was a lot worse when it first happened. Now if you come on a certain day when the wind hits a certain direction it is just really gross."

"It hurts the businesses a lot," said Sierra Kucinski. "My boyfriend worked at Green Lantern and business got so slow he had to find another job because customers were not coming in if construction was blocking it."

The good news is that as the repairs continue - Macomb Country Drain Commissioner Candice Miller - says despite the rain - they've been able to keep sewage out of Lake St. Clair.

"This has been one of the rainiest, wet weather seasons we've had in recorded history," Miller said. "In spite of that we have not had to discharge - since the first of the year - raw sewage into the Harrington Drain which goes into Lake St. Clair."

The city of Sterling Heights is filing a massive lawsuit involving the Fraser sinkhole. It's one of 11 communities whose water is transported by the affected pipe that will have to foot the bill for repairs.

But city leaders are upset at an assessment by the county that would see Sterling Heights residents and businesses paying more than $22 million of the estimated seventy-million dollars needed to fix the problem.

They also fear that total could double once financing costs are applied.