McDonald residents nervous about runoff from Beltway
Sandbags used to divert stormwater
Daniel Armstrong didn’t sleep much Thursday night because he was watching weather radar, monitoring the movement of rainstorms through the McDonald area.
Mr. Armstrong was concerned that his home on Reissing Road would be flooded for the second time in a week by runoff from excavation for a section of the Southern Beltway. Even though Mother Nature spared the area this time, Mr. Armstrong remains wary.
After flooding Tuesday night, crews on Thurday built a dam of sandbags several feet high behind his home, but in his opinion it wasn’t long enough and would have sent water directly into his house. After his sleepless night, he complained to Pennsylvania Turnpike officials overseeing the
project Friday morning and crews returned to extend the dam.
“They’re throwing stuff up real fast, but I’m not sure they know what they’re doing,” Mr. Armstrong said Friday. “[The dam] would have created more problems than it solved [if it wasn’t extended]. What they’re doing the last couple of days is a lot of work and they’re working hard, but I don’t have confidence they’re doing the right things.”
Flooding Tuesday damaged several homes near Reissing Road’s intersection with Route 980, as well as a few businesses a quartermile away in the McDonald business district. Crews are clearing the hill to install abutments for a bridge.
Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo Jr. said “it goes without saying” the turnpike is doing the best it can to address the situation. The Washington County Conservation District inspected the site Friday for the Department of Environmental Protection and is expected to issue a report with recommendations next week.
“We’ve had a team in place [since Tuesday] to respond to this,” he said.
Gary Stokum, district manager for the conservation district, said part of the problem is that unusually wet weather hasn’t allowed contractor Joseph B. Fay Co. to install all of the erosion controls called for in the project. The company can continue erosion work until the final report is released, he said.
“They’re going to continue working on getting controls in, fixing whatever failed,” he said. “It’s kind of difficult when it’s this wet … moving the dirt and putting the proper things in place is like trying to push pudding.”
State Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette, said he has been working on the problem for several weeks after residents complained about flooding in the business district. Part of that problem was linked to a clogged drain pipe on private property, but this week’s runoff is clearly tied to a 3.2-mile section of the $90.6 million Southern Beltway project between the Panhandle Trail and Cecil Reissing Road in Cecil.
Mr. Ortitay said he’s waiting for the conservation district report before he convenes a meeting of the turnpike, the contractor, residents and local officials. Besides flooding, he said, there are other concerns, including traffic restrictions and mine drainage.
“As far as I know, they are working hard after the fact to deal with [the erosion and flooding],” he said. “I’m just asking for a little bit of patience because there are a lot of moving parts. We want to make sure we have all the information before we do something.”