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WEST PITTSTON — A new, possibly dam good, idea is being proposed in West Pittston to offer flood protection, but what effect it would have on other unprotected areas is a concern.
According to West Pittston resident/flood victim Bob Trusavage, a presentation will be made at the April 3 meeting of West Pittston Borough Council on an inflatable dam concept that could protect the flood-ravaged town at a far less cost than building a levee.
Mayor Tom Blaskiewicz and flood protection consultant Jim Brozena, who also lives in the borough, said they are interested in learning more about the idea, but more study and analysis must be done before any decision is made.
“It does sound interesting,” Blaskiewicz said. “If somebody has an idea, and it’s cheaper than what we are currently waiting for, then we want to hear about it.”
Brozena said there are a lot of questions that need to be asked and answered fist.
“First of all, we have to be shown whether or not this would work,” Brozena said. “As I understand it, this would be placed along the shoreline and run the length of West Pittston —about 1.3 miles.”
Brozena said he’s been told that the inflatable dam/levee would be filled with water from the Susquehanna River.
Trusavage lives on Susquehanna River and has had flooding. Brozena said Trusavage had his house elevated after the last flooding.
Trusavage has circulated a flyer that contains information about the system — Dam-It.com — and urges residents to attend the April 3 council meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
Trusavage begins his letter by stating: “My heart sunk during this last flood scare, watching yet again people evacuating their houses and just seeing the fear on their faces. In 1996 after being flooded, I approached the West Pittston council with a simple inexpensive way to stop the deterioration of the town and was laughed at. Again in 2006 after being flooded, again I approached them and got the same results.”
Trusavage goes on to say that he was “so angered by this last near-flood, that he took it upon himself to go at it “hopefully with your support and the support of our elected officials.”
Trusavage said after a 20- or 30-year study by the federal government, it was determined that West Pittston will never get $53 million dollars to build a levee. He said he did research on a water-filled coffer dam from a company called Dam-It.com. He said after speaking with Dam-It representatives, it was determined that 1.3 miles of the town along Susquehanna Avenue can be protected. He said the cost would be approximately $800,000 or less.
A search for Dam-It.com did not locate a company website by that name. However, a representative of Dam-It Dams.com, Jack Nichols, company president, said he was not aware of his company being contacted or being scheduled to give a presentation in West Pittston. It wasn’t clear if Dam-It Dams.com is the company Trusavage contacted. Trusavage did not return messages left on his cell phone.
In his letter, Trusavage said the coffer dam can be deployed in 24 hours and it is filled by the river water. He said once the flood or threat is over it can be rolled up and stored away. He said the price includes the dam and the pumps and training to deploy it 100 percent complete.
“As you know the lack of protection in our town has not only destroyed our property values, our sanity and now will eventually hit us again financially from increasing flood insurance cost, less tax base due to neighbors taking buy outs and ripping houses down, unbuildable lots and just overall negativity, Trusavage wrote. “Who wants to move into a town that floods with high taxes and needing expensive flood insurance.”
Trusavage writes that he has set up a meeting with dam-it to come to the April 3 council meeting. He tells his fellow residents that the company is bringing a scaled-down model of the dam as well as a power point presentation.
Brozena said he has had some conversation regarding the idea.
“At first, it sounds really great ,” Brozena said.
He said there are questions about how deploying an inflatable levee/dam along the shore in West Pittston would affect other unprotected towns, like Shickshinny, Plymouth Township, Pains Township and Duryea, to mention a few.
Blaskiewicz said he top priority is getting the town protected from flooding. He said if another flood happens, the town could see more properties sold to FEMA.
“Every time the water comes up and homes are damaged, more people call to get on FEMA’s buyout list and we lose more of our tax base,” Blaskiewicz said. “That’s not a good recipe — to keep losing valuable properties. I want it to be over — I want West Pittston protected. Somebody needs to find a solution. Maybe not a levee, maybe not this inflatable dam, but there has to be a solution.”
Brozena said the borough has requested Luzerne County’s Office of Community Development to provide money — about $200,000 in HUD disaster recovery funding — for a feasibility study for a non-federal levee. He said Bloomsburg completed one about a year or so ago.
He said the county, West Pittston and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would all have to approve the expenditure. Brozena could not say what the time-frame would be for the approval process and start of the study.
Brozena said the main concern about the inflatable system would be to determine where the water would go if West Pittston was protected.
“Where would the water go?” Brozena asked. “That is a major part of what needs to be analyzed before you would do any of this.”