Kanjorski: Flood relief closer for Solomon Creek

Times Leader Staff

Staff

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Water Resources Development Act, which includes the Solomon Creek in the Wyoming Valley Levee Raising Project, said U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke.

Upon enactment into law, the act would permit the Army Corps of Engineers to construct a project that would protect more than 300 homes and businesses from flooding along the creek, which has overtopped its banks and caused flooding damage three times since 2004, Kanjorski said.

“The addition to Solomon Creek to the larger Wyoming Valley Levee Raising Project is a major triumph for the city of Wilkes-Barre,” Kanjorski said.

“The flooding of the Solomon Creek Basin is a very serious issue that has ravaged homes and businesses in the South Wilkes-Barre area over the last 50 years. The House passage of the WRDA brings us one step closer to a solution.”

Before the act becomes law, the U.S. Senate will need to pass it, and then differences in the House and Senate bill will need to be resolved by a conference committee. Each chamber would then need to pass the conference legislation, which President Bush would have to sign.