Lincoln Place: PAWC Responds

The city says it hasn't forgotten about Lincoln Place, and Phil Cynar, spokesman for Pennsylvania-American Water Company, wants you to know that they haven't, either.

On Wednesday, the Almanac reported on the continuing traffic tie-ups and street closures related to water line repairs near Interboro Avenue and Mifflin Road (indeed, Mifflin Road was restricted to one lane again Thursday morning) and we noted that we had been unable to reach a PAWC spokesperson.

Cynar says he emailed a response to the Almanac yesterday within 10 minutes of receiving our inquiry. It didn't make it here (maybe gnomes stole it?) but I believe him, and I apologize, because he deserves an opportunity to respond.

(He's emailed his statement again to a different email account, and it's reprinted below.)

In a telephone interview, Cynar says he understands the frustration that residents might feel, but says PAWC has tried to keep them informed at every step of the way --- through advertorials in local newspapers, through direct mailings to nearby homes, and through news releases.

Cynar also says that PAWC has tried to keep city officials involved in the process. "We have been very forthright in sharing information with the city, and all of the local officials have been privy to that information," he says.

About the crux of Wednesday's Almanac --- the broken pavement on Interboro Avenue --- Cynar says PAWC is committed to repairing the street at no expense to the city. "It's never left up to the city to resolve a situation that was created by work we had to do," he says.

But asphalt plants aren't open in the wintertime, so paving material couldn't be purchased even if the work was complete --- which it isn't. "We are not shirking our responsibility, but there are some things we can't do, because our hands are tied," Cynar says.

The repair work in Lincoln Place has been complicated by earth movement in the area and the need to avoid other buried utility lines, he says. "There's an awful lot of work going on in that area. ... People don't always realize the process is not going to be an overnight one."

While there have been service interruptions, they have been minor outages that were necessary because work could not be performed on a line that's under pressure, he says.

Happily, the work will soon be coming to an end, hopefully by the end of April, if the weather cooperates and no other problems are discovered, and that's "including the street restoration," Cynar says.

The people of Lincoln Place, Munhall and West Mifflin will need to be patient (I almost said "hold their water") just a little bit longer.

In the meantime, drink more water. It's good for you.

. . .

From Phil Cynar, spokesman, Pennsylvania-American Water Company:

Since we completed the significant repairs to the 30-inch transmission main at the start of the year, we have been working with diligence in the area. From the start, we noted that our crews would have a presence in the area for likely months to come. The stabilization and reinforcement work we are undertaking to help avoid another catastrophic main break in the area in the future has been large-scale. We have installed new a main, moved the main out of harm's way from the dangerous hillside on Interboro, done various tie-ins and other related work. (...)

We want the reinforcement and stabilization work to be effective, and we are doing what is necessary to achieve that effectiveness. We have had weather issues to battle, which have likely slowed work a bit, but that is beyond our control. And as to street restoration, that work cannot happen until our work requiring excavation is done. Similarly, it can't happen until asphalt plants open in April and the temperature is satisfactory for paving work.

We have completed Phase I of our work in the area and are about 50-percent done with Phase II work. Barring complications beyond our control--or weather issues--we should be done with the project, including street restoration work, by mid to late April.

As to communication with public officials, our team has been open and forthcoming with any and all information about the project--right from mid-December. We have made a concerted effort to reach out to local and elected officials in various ways to keep them updated on our work. We are always available, similarly, to respond to any questions they may have. In fact, several local mayors have contacted us with some regularity to get answers to questions they receive, and we have been able to address those quickly and to everyone's satisfaction.

Of course, we acknowledge the inconvenience our work may cause to customers in the area, and we appreciate their ongoing patience and cooperation while we make enhancements and stabilization to better serve them.

. . .

According to Cynar, system upgrades that are being completed by PAWC in the Interboro Avenue area include:

• sliplining the damaged 30-inch transmission main in Interboro Ave. with new 24-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) main (work which was completed by January 3, 2007);
• installation of 12-inch HPDE main over the hillside from Route 837 to Gauge St. as an additional reliable feed into the affected area (will also replace a valved-off 16-inch main);
• installation of approximately 1,000 feet of 16-inch main from the Sunoco gas station at Interboro Ave. and Leaside Dr. to the Scorer St. intersection (to avoid potential problems with underground concrete thrust blocks supporting the existing 16-inch main near the volunteer fire department);
• installation of a loop of main from Scorer St. to Kinley Ave. This loop will connect Diller Ave. in order to provide additional flow around the mains in the Interboro Ave. and Scorer St. intersection;
• replacement of the 6-inch and 8-inch mains in Brierly Lane from Interboro Ave. to Homestead/Duquesne Rd. to increase water transmission capabilities.

Cynar notes that this information was printed in local newspapers, along with this addendum: "In some of these neighborhoods, Pennsylvania American Water will have a presence for months to come as work continues. In advance, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Some of our system enhancements or reinforcements may require planned service disruptions while work is being done. We will aim to schedule these at the least disruptive times and will communicate information about any planned outages to affected customers."