Debris from California Boat Club being removed
A contractor was fishing pieces of California Boat Club out of the Monongahela River Friday after it washed downriver amid severe flooding last weekend.
River Salvage was using a 10-yard clamshell bucket to remove the remnants of the club’s restaurant and other debris Friday from near Locks and Dam No. 4 in Charleroi, said lockmaster Paul Mieninger.
“They may finish up today,” he said. “Yesterday, it looked like they were making pretty good progress.”
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Jeff Hawk said River Salvage swept the locks’ navigation channel Tuesday to ensure there were no obstructions before starting to pull debris from the river Wednesday.
The barge that held the club’s restaurant sank in May at the spot in Coal Center where it was moored. During the recent flooding, the club became dislodged and first came to rest on a mooring cell just upriver from Charleroi locks, Mieninger said in a video the Corps posted to Facebook Thursday. The club broke into several pieces and rolled off the cell before the floating remnant of it got caught in a current from the locks’ diversion dike and butted up against a newly built guide wall.
“So far, there’s no way (the club’s) going to come out of there in a large enough piece to even take a photograph of,” Mieninger said in an interview Friday.
Hawk said the federal agency hadn’t determined if club owners Nancy and Lawrence Victoria would face penalties.
Elsewhere in Washington County, various government agencies, churches and nonprofit service groups met in the county Department of Public Safety’s offices on West Beau Street Thursday to coordinate efforts to address damage from flash flooding late last week. Western PA Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster said in a statement an estimated 90 households in the city, East Washington, Peters Township, Venetia and the Finleyville area were affected.
VOAD’s statement said First United Methodist Church, located on North College Street in Washington, is collecting donations to help with relief.
The group also said residents can call 211, an information and referral service run by the United Way of Southwest PA, to report problems and seek help from local authorities.
At Mingo Creek County Park, Tresco Paving – which is under contract with the county to do work at the fairgrounds in Chartiers Township and pave portions of the Panhandle Trail – was working Friday to repair damage to Mingo Road, several trails and bridges, said Lisa Cessna, executive director of the county Planning Commission, which oversees county parks and trails.
Cessna said Tresco estimated the cost of its work – which includes stone work and repairs to some parking areas, along with paving – at $17,000.
Cessna couldn’t provide a total for costs stemming from the flooding. For example, it was still unknown how much it would cost to hire a crane operator to lift one of the park’s restrooms so county workers could repair its foundation.
The park and its shelters have remained open despite the damage.
“We’re open for business,” said Cessna. “For the most part I think the areas that have been closed off will be opened by the end of next week.”
A line of heavy storms that moved through the area Friday afternoon brought down trees and power lines in several areas across the county. A number of power outages were reported, but there was no initial indication of widespread flooding, as was seen a week earlier.