PENNSYLVANIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART TO STABILIZE LANDSLIDE-PRONE CONSTRUCTION SITE
PITTSBURGH --Wal-Mart will stabilize a hilltop construction site that caused a major landslide last year, whether or not it ever builds a store there, a company spokesman said.
Wal-Mart spokesman Jim Davis told about 150 Kilbuck Township residents Tuesday night that the Arkansas-based retail chain will not leave the site along Route 65 until the ground stops sliding from the hilltop construction site. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection hosted the public meeting to address residents’ concerns.
“I am committing to you here tonight that Wal-Mart will do everything it can to remediate that site,” Davis said.
“Wal-Mart has not discussed or considered our development plans for the site. We’re not concerned about what the final footprint will look like. We’re concerned about one thing: site stabilization,” Davis said.
Part of the site gave way Sept. 19, sending 500,000 cubic yards of dirt and debris onto the highway below. The highway is a major artery to Pittsburgh’s western suburbs and was closed for two weeks. One outbound lane remains closed.
Wal-Mart wants to remove about 850,000 square yards of soil from the slide area and pile it on another part of the property away from the highway. A 100-foot reinforced soil wall would be built along the highway. That work could last through 2009, if state officials approve the plan.
Wal-Mart took control of the site in March because the state was not satisfied that a developer was doing enough to prevent another landslide.
Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, August 01, 2007
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