LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) — Scott and Robin Spivey had asinking feeling that something was wrong with
their home when cracksbegan snaking across their walls in March.The cracks soon turnedinto gaping fractures,
and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garagebroke from the house and the entire property — manicured
lawn and all —dropped 10 feet below the street.It wasn’t long before thehouses on both sides collapsed as
the ground gave way in the Spivey’sneighborhood in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San
Francisco."Wewant to know what is going on here," said Scott Spivey, a former citybuilding
inspector who lived in his four-bedroom, Tudor-style dream homefor 11 years.Eight homes are now abandoned
and 10 more are undernotice of imminent evacuation as a hilltop with sweeping vistas ofClear Lake and the
Mount Konocti volcano swallows the subdivision built30 years ago.The situation has become so bad that mail
delivery was ended to keep carriers out of danger."It’s a slow-motion disaster," said Randall
Fitzgerald, a writer who bought his home in the Lakeside Heights project a year ago.Unlikesinkholes of
Florida that can gobble homes in an instant, this collapsein hilly volcanic country can move many feet on
one day and just afraction of an inch the next.Officials believe water that hasbubbled to the surface is
playing a role in the destruction. But nobodycan explain why suddenly there is plentiful water atop the hill
in acounty with groundwater shortages."That’s the big question," saidScott De Leon, county public
works director. "We have a dormantvolcano, and I’m certain a lot of things that happen here (in
LakeCounty) are a result of that, but we don’t know about this."Other development on similar soil in
the county is stable, county officials said.Whilesome of the subdivision movement is occurring on shallow
fill, De Leonsaid a geologist has warned that the ground could be compromised down tobedrock 25 feet below
and that cracks recently appeared in roads wellbeyond the fill."Considering this is a low rainfall year
and thefact it’s letting go now after all of these years, and the magnitudethat it’s letting go, well it’s
pretty monumental," De Leon said.Countyofficials have inspected the original plans for the project and
say itwas developed by a reputable engineering firm then signed off on by thepublic works director at the
time."I can only presume that they were checked prior to approval," De Leon said.Thesinkage has
prompted county crews to redirect the subdivision’s sewage300 feet through an overland pipe as manholes in
the 10-acre developmentcollapsed.Consultant Tom Ruppenthal found two small leaks in thecounty water system
that he said weren’t big enough to account for theamount of water that is flowing along infrastructure pipes
andunderground fissures, but they could be contributing to another source."It’svery common for
groundwater to shift its course," said Ruppenthal ofUtility Services Associates in Seattle. "I
think the groundwater hasshifted."If the county can’t get the water and sewer servicestabilized, De
Leon said all 30 houses in the subdivision will have tobe abandoned.The owners of six damaged homes said
they need help from the government.TheLake County Board of Supervisors asked Gov. Jerry Brown to declare
anemergency so funding might be available to stabilize utilities anddetermine the cause of the collapse. On
May 6, state Sen. Noreen Evans,D-Santa Rosa, wrote a letter of support asking Brown for immediateaction.The
California Emergency Management Agency said Brown was stillassessing the situation.On Wednesday, the state
sent a waterresources engineer and a geologist to look at the problem. Sen. DianneFeinstein sent a
representative the next day.Lake County, withfarms, wineries and several Indian casinos, was shaped by
earthquakefault movement and volcanic explosions that helped create the CoastRanges of California. Clear
Lake, popular for boating and fishing, isthe largest fresh water lake wholly located in the state.It isnot
unusual for groundwater in the region to make its way to the surfacethen subside. Many natural hot springs
and geysers receded undergroundin the early 1900s and have since been tapped for geothermal
power.Homeownersnow wonder whether fissures have opened below their hilltop, allowingwater to seep to the
surface. But they’re so perplexed they also talkabout the land being haunted and are considering asking the
local NativeAmerican tribe if the hilltop was an ancient graveyard."Someonesaid it must be hexed,"
said Blanka Doren, a 72-year-old Germanimmigrant who poured her life savings into the house she bought in
1999so she could live on the rental income.The home shares a wallwith her neighbor, Jagtar Singh — who had
two days of notice to move hiswife, 4-year-old daughter and his parents before the hill behind theback of
his home collapsed — taking the underside of his house andleaving the carpet dangling.Doren is afraid that
as Singh’s house falls it will take hers with it. Already cracks have spread across her floors.Damagedhouses
in the subdivision have been tagged for mandatory removal, butthe hillside is so unstable it can’t support
the heavy equipmentnecessary to perform the job."This was our first home," saidSingh, who noticed
a problem in April when he could see light betweenthe wall and floor of his bedroom. A geotechnical company
offered nosolutions."We didn’t know it would be that major, but in one week we were gone," he
said.Sofar insurance companies have left the owners of the homes — valuedbetween $200,000 and $250,000, or
twice the median price in the county —dangling too. Subsidence is not covered, homeowners said. So
untilsomeone figures out whether something else is going on, they’ll be inlimbo."It’s a tragedy,
really," contractor Dean Pick said as hetook photos for an insurance company. "I’ve never seen
anything like it.At least that didn’t have the Pacific Ocean eating away at it."___To reach Tracie
Cone: www.twitter.com/TConeAPCopyright
2013 The Associated Press.