Attorneys, judge confer again on ‘Big Pipe’ case, N. Franklin flooding
Four attorneys conferred Friday with Washington County Judge Michael Lucas, who issued an order in what’s come to be known as “the Big Pipe” case to end recurrent flash flooding in North Franklin Township on West Chestnut Street.
At the status hearing, the judge agreed to modify an earlier order so that a plan to substitute a pipe could be pursued rather than excavating and repairing the much older clogged one buried 24 feet underground.
The latest court order addresses costs of engineering, constructing and obtaining permits for the project as described by Geoffrey C. Phillips of Phillips and Associates Inc., engineering consultants, of Wall, Allegheny County.
Releases and indemnification regarding Guttman Realty Co. and its tenants are also part of Lucas’ order, which schedules the next status conference for September.
Lucas has called “the Big Pipe” case a matter of public safety because kayakers have paddled there, a geyser has sprung up, motorists have been stranded and businesses have been forced to temporarily close when water fails to drain into Chartiers Creek.
Guttman filed suit in the spring against Orion Development and others, requesting an injunction. Flooding and the pipe affect about a dozen businesses at the North Franklin-Canton Township line near Franklin Farms Road.