West Pittston flood protection options set for release at Wednesday night meeting

Oct. 9--A proposed solution to protect West Pittston from Susquehanna River flooding -- possibly a levee -- is set for release at a public meeting Wednesday night.

While funding would have to be secured, identifying a flood-control plan is the first step to address persistent pleas for help from property owners since 880 residences, 26 businesses and several churches and public buildings were damaged by record river flooding in September 2011, West Pittston's project management consultant Jim Brozena said Tuesday.

Using a $225,000 allocation from Luzerne County's Community Development Office, the borough hired Wilkes-Barre-based Borton-Lawson to study all options, with help from sub-contractor Reilly Associates in Pittston and guidance from Brozena.

"The end of this study is really the beginning of the process," Brozena said Tuesday.

The study examined the costs and pros and cons of river dredging, river island removal, a permanent levee and a temporary inflatable or bladder dam, he said.

It also explored the projected impact of two other extremes: doing nothing or buying out and leveling more than 900 flood-prone structures. The latter is unlikely to be pursued because past estimates projected a mass buyout of so many properties would cost more than $130 million.

Findings on all options -- and the recommended one -- will be detailed during the meeting at 7 p.m. at the Wyoming Area Secondary Center Auditorium, 252 Memorial St., Exeter, Brozena said.

A posting about the meeting on the borough's website said the meeting involves a proposed levee. Brozena said he will hold off on specifics until the public meeting.

The borough is considering securing protection on its own because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declined to initiate a levee under its umbrella. The federal agency determined in 2017 a levee around West Pittston did not meet the benefit-to-cost ratio warranting the estimated $51 million investment, officials have said. The process to secure and complete a levee through the U.S. Army Corps also could take decades.

Instead, Brozena said the borough has been following the example of Bloomsburg, which secured public and private funding to build a levee after a similar cost-benefit ratio denial from the U.S. Army Corps. Bloomsburg's levee was designed and constructed within four years, and a levee expansion is now underway there, he said.

"They've been very successful moving forward in a non-Corps environment," Brozena said.

The new West Pittston study findings related to a levee would require that system to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements to comply with the National Flood Insurance Program, Brozena said. Such compliance is necessary for property owners to receive reduced flood insurance rates resulting from levee protection, he said.

The consultants based the new study on federal data compiled since Tropical Storm Lee made the river swell to 42.66 feet in 2011, causing $97.9 million in damages in West Pittston. The study focused on the river stretch from Exeter Township near the Wyoming County border down to the area of the Eighth Street Bridge connecting Wyoming to Jenkins Township, officials have said.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.

___

(c)2019 The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

Visit The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) at www.timesleader.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.