Kilbuck, PA. Citizens Group Demands Wal-Mart Stabilize Site

Group wants Wal-Mart to stabilize Kilbuck site [Pittsburgh Star Gazette]

Communities First! has asked the state to order Wal-Mart to permanently stabilize the old Dixmont State Hospital property in Kilbuck where the retailer was building a shopping plaza until 300,000 cubic yards of dirt and debris slid onto Route 65/Ohio River Boulevard more than a year ago.

In a letter sent yesterday to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the grassroots group formed to oppose construction of the Wal-Mart Superstore and River Pointe Plaza said the retailer “should be subject to a fully enforceable order requiring it to rectify the predictable result of its negligence” in trying to develop a landslide-prone property.

The letter, signed by Bob Keir, co-chairman of the group, also asked the DEP to set a deadline for the retailer to submit data and conclusions about what caused the landslide and make no decision on the company’s stabilization plan until Wal-Mart submits all data and a complete plan.

Helen Humphreys, a DEP spokeswoman, said the department will review the request. A Wal-Mart stabilization plan submitted to DEP last month was deemed incomplete and inaccurate. The company submitted additional information earlier this month, but the DEP has not finalized its conclusions about that submission, Ms. Humphreys said.

Soil at the site continues to slowly move toward Route 65, where one lane of the four-lane road remains closed to traffic as a safety precaution.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, September 26, 2007

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