Engineering assessment authorized for erosion near Wilkes-Barre flood wall

Erosion inching toward part of the Wyoming Valley Levee system flood wall along Riverside Drive in Wilkes-Barre is concerning enough to seek an immediate outside engineer assessment, Luzerne County’s Flood Protection Authority decided Tuesday.

Authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman said levee workers discovered the Susquehanna River embankment “sloughing” in July while addressing a downed tree nearby. On slopes, slough is soil, rock and debris that has moved downhill, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The spot of concern is near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Academy Street by the Black Diamond railroad bridge. This section has been stable for decades but started to slough in recent months, Belleman said.

Belleman said he has been monitoring the erosion since mid-July, and it is “progressively getting closer to the flood wall.”

“The flood wall is not being threatened in any way whatsoever, but if we allow this situation to continue, the flood wall could be threatened,” Belleman said.

Tuesday’s agenda initially sought board approval to seek requests for proposals for a professional engineer, but board member Jay Delaney said he is “extremely concerned” about the matter and believes immediate action is warranted.

Delaney, Wilkes-Barre’s fire chief, said the river rose to the height of the embankment impacted by the sloughing five times between 2018 and 2023, and he does not want to delay action. He has been regularly visiting the site on his own in the interest of public safety.

“All one has to do is look at it down there and just predict what is going to happen when that water comes up,” Delaney said.

Other board members agreed and voted to authorize Belleman to immediately retain a local engineering firm to assess the situation and provide a report to the authority.

Authority officials said a public procurement process for an engineer, while preferred, is not mandated because it is a professional service, and this is an emergency situation.

County government’s purchasing policy says an exception to the competitive bidding process is allowable when “unforeseen circumstances require an immediate purchase in order to avoid a substantial hazard to life or property.”

Authority Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi, an engineer, said he has not visited the site but believes an outside engineer will recommend digging up that area and filling it in with large stone known as rip-rap. Yannuzzi said he suspects there is some “soft soil” in the area and potentially an eddy current causing the erosion.

Yannuzzi said the authority will continue to closely watch the site and would dump loads of rocks in that section as an emergency measure if necessary.

Authority Board members Coray Mitchell, John Maday and Vice Chairman William Hardwick also concurred with Delaney’s push to immediately address the matter.

Belleman said the authority has contacted federal officials and learned no federal funding will be available to fix the problem.

The concrete flood wall covers an interlocked steel sheet pile that provides the primary flood protection, he said, noting the sheet pile is driven 40 feet into the ground.

Belleman has estimated a permanent fix could cost $500,000.

Leasing space

In other business on Tuesday, the authority agreed to publicly advertise an unused 600-square-foot section of its building on Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort to determine if any entities are interested in leasing the space for offices.

This section was a locker room when the property was previously a state police training facility and contains showers and toilets.

Renovation work continues on another portion of the building that has been leased to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Homeland Security will pay the authority approximately $30,000 annually to lease 1,700 square feet for three years, with the option for an additional two-year renewal, officials said.

Belleman has said the federal government is also funding renovations required for occupancy of that leased space.

No other entities were interested in leasing the space when the opportunity was publicly advertised, and the authority board publicly voted on the lease in fall 2024.

The leased space will house administrative offices and will not be outfitted with detention capabilities for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, authority officials have said.