Feds, state eye flood protection damages

BILL O ’ BOYLE

boboyle@timesleader.com

PLYMOUTH – Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Friday toured flood control systems in borough and Exeter borough to assess damage caused by flooding earlier this month.

Federal, county and local officials check out Wadham Creek in Plymouth Friday morning. The group toured several areas that flooded early this month.

Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader

It’s possible that restoration could be paid for largely with federal funds.

It’s possible that restoration could be paid for largely with federal funds.

“These are non-federal and federal projects and we are here today to assess damage to each and compile a report,” said Maria E. de la Torre, chief of the Emergency Management Office for the Army Corps.

According to Christopher Augsburger, spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, it could take up to 45 days to determine eligibility for funding.

Augsburger said the team that was in Plymouth will do a comparison of the flood protection system’s condition prior to the flooding of July 3 and 4 and its current condition. They will then estimate the cost to repair the damage and file their report. Augsburger said the dollar amount threshold for eligibility is $15,000. Once approved, the project would be placed on a national priority list.

If approved, federal funds will pay for 80 percent of the project, with local money making up the difference.

Jim Brozena, executive director of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority, and Kevin Coughlin, vice president of Plymouth Borough Council, accompanied the officials on the tour of Wadham Creek, Brown Creek and Duffy’s Run. The group then went to Hick’s Creek in Exeter to assess damage there.

Brozena said crews from the county have been working on the Plymouth system, removing debris and restoring the walls that were damaged when the flood waters raged through.

The Army Corps and DEP officials did not review damage on Coal Street in Plymouth and Plymouth Township where the upper part of the roadway remains open and a 36-inch water main line is exposed.

“We’re here only to assess the damage of the existing infrastructure of the federal and non-federal flood control systems,” said Sean Donnelly, chief, Completed Projects Section for DEP.

Brozena said the county has submitted a written request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide funding to repair two bridges and a road damaged on Coal Street by the flooding in Plymouth and Plymouth Township. He said the county agreed to get involved because the municipalities were unable to obtain federal funding.

Brozena said the estimated $5 million in damage did not meet the $16 million threshold for a presidential disaster declaration.

The two bridges cross Coal Creek, and the damaged roadway is the upper section of Coal Street.