DANVILLE — Flooding damage to the Danville sewage treatment plant could amount into the millions of dollars. The plant, in the middle of a $18.76 million upgrade, was damaged after Mahoning Creek topped its banks early Friday morning.
“It’s done until the (Susquehanna River) comes down,” Danville Borough Council President Dick Blosky said Friday of the plant.
Two employees escaped the sewer plant when Mahoning Creek rose.
The sewer plant upgrades are part of the state’s first-phase mandate of a project to clean the Chesapeake Bay. Besides Danville residents, the plant also serves Mahoning Township and Riverside.
Damage is also expected at Danville Middle School.
“There’s probably water in the auditorium and in the band room,” Blosky said.
He suspected Scott’s Floral, across from the sewer plant on Route 11, also had water.
Mahoning Creek flowed over the sandbags on the CVS Pharmacy side of Route 11 around 3:30 a.m. Friday.
Wendy’s Restaurant, at Routes 54 and 11, was closed. Hawkins Chevrolet moved vehicles to the Weis Markets parking lot because of water on its lot.
Shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, firefighters were called to the sewer plant when black smoke was reportedly seen. The companies were also equipped with boats. The smoke was later reported to have been white and possibly caused by an electrical or mechanical problem. The fire was declared out at 9:07 a.m.
Other flood-related problems included the Susquehanna River closing “the narrows” along Route 54 in Riverside and Route 11 south, in the area of The Danville Boat Club.
Danville High School, which has been converted to a temporary shelter, had four people there Friday morning. Two of the people are from Sonestown and one was from Washingtonville, said Deanna Hollenbach, Danville Area Red Cross chapter executive director.
There were six people at the shelter Thursday night. One woman, from Reading, got stuck in Danville while headed to Dushore. A man got stranded here on his way to work in Berwick when Interstate 80 was closed, she said. That man heard volunteers were needed to help sandbag at Mahoning Creek so he went and helped out there Thursday.
Hollenbach said the Sonesown residents were being treated at Geisinger Medical Center’s emergency department for breathing gas fumes due to a gas leak in their home. Geisinger transported them to the shelter.
“They have leaking gas and flooding at their house and are unsure where they will go,” Hollenbach said.
She said the community has been great in providing spontaneous help and donations, such as McDonald’s Restaurant donating food to people volunteering with the sandbagging efforts.
As for the shelter, she said it will remain open until Montour County Emergency Services says it should close and “We find a place for everybody. We are prepared to take care of people if we have to.”
Firefighters would be pumping basements after the water recedes, Danville Fire Chief Tom Kline said.
“Otherwise I would need 400 pumps and I have only five,” he said. “We will remedy the situation after the fact.”
— Email comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com.
The Danville News
Related Photos
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The Mahoning Creek in Danville slams up against its barrier along Route 11 in Danville. Robert Inglis/The Daily Item
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Lower Mulberry Steet in Danville. Robert Inglis/The Daily Item
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Water covered the Danville sewer plant almost completely on Friday. Robert Inglis/The Daily Item
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Flooding at the Danville Middle School on Friday. Robert Inglis/The Daily Item
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