Canton Township businesses frustrated by recurring flooding from Chartiers Creek
Employees at businesses along Jefferson Avenue in Canton Township, Washington County, spent the start of the work week cleaning up after water from Chartiers Creek flooded buildings on Sunday.
"Chartiers Creek, which is right next to us here, backed up. Too much rain coming in through all the storm drains and when it overflows, it banks. It enters all the buildings here," RPM Industries COO John Zwicker told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jordan Cioppa.
Zwicker said Sunday marked the fourth time his business flooded in the last 10 years. He has turned to local, county, and state officials for help, but he said nothing has been done to fix the problem.
"Either Washington County, or someone at the state level, needs to take charge and come in here and start making some decisions," Zwicker said. "The easiest thing to do is to get the creek cleaned up, get the brush moved back, and look at where the water is starting to back up and make some smart decisions quickly."
Zwicker said flooding is driving businesses away.
"Two businesses have already left. One of them is in the middle of leaving. And then there’s two more. They’ve all been flooded worse than us. We’re actually a little higher than they are. Washington County is losing businesses," Zwicker said.
A Canton Township official said the creek is under the jurisdiction of the PA Department of Environmental Protection.
The township plans to meet with state leaders to address the problem, the official said.
In the meantime, Washington County officials teamed up with PEMA to assess damage from severe storms on Sept. 12.
Washington County Public Safety Director Gerald Coleman said after they finished, crews would move on to damage reports from Sunday.
He urged people to report damage from the latest round of storms by filling out the new online form, which is separate from the form posted for last week’s damage.
"These damage assessments will show PEMA where the hardest-hit areas … where the frequency is. So, if it's not reported, they don't know what happens," Coleman said. "So yes, it's extremely important."
To file a damage report, click here.