Flooding concerns prompt inspection of Unity Airpark ponds

The Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. has agreed to inspect the stormwater control system at its Westmoreland County Airpark in Unity after nearby residents maintained that runoff from the business development is adding to flooding problems in the community.

Michelle Kozusko, an advocate for neighbors who have experienced repeated basement flooding in the nearby village of Whitney, suggested two water retention ponds at the airpark off Route 981 aren’t doing an adequate job of abating storm runoff. At this month’s meeting of the township supervisors, she presented photos of water inundating sections of the yard of Rick Musick, who lives next to the business park.

Musick, who didn’t attend the meeting, later told the Tribune-Review, “They have done some things to the pond, but it never helped me.”

He said about 2 acres of his 7-acre property along Bell Memorial Church Road have become marshy and he is no longer able to mow that section. “It’s a swamp more than a yard,” he said.

“At times, we can’t even get out of our driveway,” he said, noting it has been under 2 feet of water during the worst flooding episodes.

Jay Bandieramonte, IDC development supervisor, said two water detention ponds at the airpark were designed in compliance with the Westmoreland Conservation District and the state Department of Environmental Protection when the site was developed about a decade ago and when a second phase of development occurred four years ago.

Last year, IDC, at the direction of the Conservation District, removed some built-up sediment in one of the ponds.

“Over time, sediment had filled a ditch, and water coming out of the detention pond was blocked,” said Jim Pillsbury, a hydraulic engineer with the conservation district who has assessed Musick’s flooding issues. “It couldn’t flow down through the ditch, and it was finding its way into Mr. Musick’s property.”

To correct the problem, Bandieramonte said, “We cleaned out the channel and added some riprap to what was already there.”

Since that effort, he said, IDC hadn’t received further complaints about the ponds until hearing about the concerns expressed at the recent township meeting.

As a result, he said, IDC has agreed to join Pillsbury in a follow-up inspection of the detention ponds.

“We have to study those ponds and make sure they’re functioning properly,” Pillsbury said.

Pillsbury pointed out that other factors may have played a part in the flooding of local lower-lying areas. “Even if the airpark were not built, some of those properties would have had a flooding problem,” he said.

While he’s inconvenienced by flooding on his property, Musick acknowledged residents in nearby Whitney have had a far worse experience, with flood waters repeatedly inundating homes situated between Leachman Street and a local stream.

Unity solicitor Gary Falatovich noted the township “doesn’t have a dog in the fight” between Musick and the county airpark. But the township supervisors have said they intend to work with community volunteers to clear debris from the stream in Whitney, in the hope of lessening the impact of flooding along the tributary to Ninemile Run.

Supervisors had hoped to begin that effort, aided by members of the adjacent Living Hope Church, before the end of the year. But the heavy rains this year have made it difficult to work in the area.

“It’s so wet down there,” Supervisor John Mylant said. “We’re letting it freeze a little bit.”

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.