Pennsylvania DEP fines demo firm $39K for waste violations

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a $39,100 fine to the demolition firm responsible for the implosion of two smokestacks at the former Cheswick Generating Station.

In a statement, the DEP says $21,600 of the fine will be allocated to Springdale, the borough where the station is located, to maintain and upgrade parks and recreation projects. The other $17,500 will go toward the state’s Solid Waste Abatement Fund, which helps eliminate potentially hazardous substances throughout Pennsylvania.

As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a consent order and agreement filed earlier this week says Louisville, Kentucky-based Charah Solutions, the lead company responsible for the demolition, as well as two contractors working with Charah, violated state law by allowing debris from the demolition site to enter nearby properties.

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“The metal, concrete, dust and other debris released from the site onto other properties as a result of the felling of the chimneys constitutes solid waste, municipal waste and construction/demolition waste,” the agreement says. 

Steven Brehm, an attorney for Charah, tells the Post-Gazette that the agreement reflects the “division of responsibility” between Charah and its contractors on site.

“We worked with the state to get to what we thought was fair to the situation,” he says.

Residents in Springdale voiced concerns about fiberglass in their yards, dust on their properties, and overall health impacts on their families after the implosion in June.

More than a dozen residents filed an injunction in September, preventing the implosion of a boiler house at the power station scheduled to take place later that month. A county judge allowed the injunction to stand, and that case is still in court, the Post-Gazette reports.

The case is expected to continue over the next few weeks.

As previously reported by Construction & Demolition Recycling, the implosion also caused some power poles nearby to fall over, which damaged homes.

Phoenix, Maryland-based CDI, who oversaw the implosion, said in June that the damage was caused by focused air pressure from the implosion and that it would take care of any repairs.