Levee passes federal inspection

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.comLuzerne County Reporter

The Wyoming Valley Levee has passed a stringent federal inspection, though several deficiencies were identified.

Two of the culprits: illegal all-terrain vehicle and dirt bike riding that tears up the levee grounds and the unauthorized erection of sheds and gardens too close to the levee base, said Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority Executive Director Jim Brozena on Monday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes comprehensive inspections of levees about every five years and issues a rating of acceptable, minimally acceptable or unacceptable.

The Wyoming Valley Levee and all 34 other flood-control spans in the Corps’ Baltimore District were inspected and have received a minimally acceptable rating.

“This means that there were no major concerns and that they would perform as expected or intended during a major flood event,” said a Corps press release.

Sod cover, encroachments and rutting were identified as deficiencies locally.

Brozena said the Corps determined the sod or turf coverage was insufficient where ATVs and dirt bikes have been a problem, particularly in Wyoming and sections of the levee in Hanover Township near the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority.

County officials will continue to discuss ways to block these intruders, he said.

“It’s a difficult thing to control,” Brozena said.

Encroachment is an issue because the Corps recommends that the levee owner, in this case the county authority, owns the land 15 feet from the levee toe or base and prohibits any structures within that distance that are not related to flood control, he said.

The authority won’t meet that standard in Plymouth because it would have to acquire and demolish several homes within the 15 feet, Brozena said. The authority has no plans to purchase these properties because it would unnecessarily force people out of their homes, he said.

But the authority will start enforcing the encroachment of private property owners on land within the 15 feet that is owned by the authority, he said.

Survey markers will be set up to identify the authority-owned land, and any sheds, gardens or structures on the levee property will be removed, Brozena said.

Ruts in the levee are caused by grass-cutting equipment that slides when the ground is wet, he said. Levee maintenance crews will fix the ruts, he said.

The Corps will re-inspect all levees to ensure that deficiencies are corrected, the release said. The five-year inspections are more detailed and comprehensive than routine annual inspections, it said.

Brozena said he has not yet received a final inspection report but will make sure everything is addressed.

“We continue to strive to go ahead and get the acceptable rating,” he said. “I don’t know that anybody gets an acceptable rating. It is that difficult to accomplish.”

The 15-mile Wyoming Valley Levee runs from Exeter to Plymouth on the west side and from the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre to Hanover Township on the east. It’s designed to protect against a flood comparable to Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972, or a Susquehanna River level of 41 feet.