Posted on September 8, 2020
A $100,000 state grant will help clear vegetation and sediment from an Allegheny County stretch of Turtle Creek and one of its tributaries, helping to safeguard the lives and property of citizens in the watershed.
The state’s H2O Program, which provides grants for drinking water, sanitary sewer, flood control and storm sewer projects, approved the grant, and two others, for projects across the state.
It will include dredging and restoring several sections of Dirty Camp Run and Turtle Creek to their original carrying capacity. The project will remove roughly 11,000 cubic yards of sediment from Dirty Camp Run and Turtle Creek, according to Matt Gordon, regulatory team director for the Allegheny County Conservation District.
“This will help restore the carrying capacity of the channel to discharge high flows and will reestablish the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ prescribed improvements for the Turtle Creek Flood Control Project,” Gordon said.
Dirty Camp Run, which winds its way through the center of Pitcairn, overflowed its retaining-wall banks on July 1, 1997, part of a flash flood that moved cars, damaged the foundation of two houses near the creek and led to the death of firefighter Joseph Vagnier, 21, who was trapped beneath a vehicle after part of Route 48 was inundated with four feet of water. More than 250 homes in Pitcairn suffered flood damage, part of 429 homes total, along with 13 roads and bridges, 12 businesses, two sewer systems and a park.
National Weather Service officials said the flooding was also likely strengthened by the breach of a debris dam.
Gordon said the grant will help fund a dredging effort that will restore the stream to its original dimensions, and an improved plan for controlling erosion and sediment pollution will minimize the amount of sediment carried downstream.
“An access road to the channel will be left in place to assist in future maintenance efforts,” Gordon said.
In addition to the Turtle Creek project, the H2O Program also funded a stream rehabilitation project in Clearfield County and a flood control project in Lackawanna County.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter.
Source: triblive
