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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State Rep. Mike
Carroll |
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Carroll, Mellow announce $420,000 grant for Mill Creek flood protection project
HARRISBURG, May 4 – State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Luzerne/Monroe and state Sen. Bob Mellow, D-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Monroe, announced today that the state Department of Environmental Protection has awarded a $420,000 grant to expand a flood protection project in Duryea, Avoca and Dupont.
Carroll said the funds will be used to enhance the Mill Creek elevated floodplain project, which runs 1,100 feet downstream from Duryea to Moosic.
"This grant will greatly benefit the communities of Duryea, Dupont and Moosic along the elevated floodplain project, with the biggest benefits to be seen in Avoca," Carroll said.
He explained that an offshoot of the main floodplain project flows through concrete channels in Avoca. However, as the waters flow into the natural channels, which are much narrower, they back up and cause a potential flooding hazard.
Funding from this grant, which will be administered by the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority, will be used to excavate an approximately 1,100-foot long, 40-foot wide elevated floodplain on the east bank of Mill Creek, just downstream of the existing flood protection project, to improve the hydraulic efficiency of the existing flood protection project. Work on this project will begin in September 2010 and is expected to take three months to complete.
Mellow said this grant will supplement existing efforts to improve flood prevention structures near Mill Creek and the benefits will be felt in Duryea, Dupont, Avoca and Moosic.
"Protecting our communities from flooding is so important, and I am pleased to announce this state funding with Rep. Carroll."
Carroll highlighted the ongoing improvements that have occurred and are planned along the Mill Creek flood control project corridor. In 2008, a project to realign the Reading and Northern Railroad tracks under the Route 11 bridge in Avoca and open the water channel there was completed with the help of a $300,000 PennDOT Rail Freight Assistance Grant secured by Carroll and Mellow.
DEP has additional projects planned for the ongoing Mill Creek elevated floodplain project. Phase three, tentatively slated for the summer of 2011, would narrow several channels from 34-feet to 24-feet wide to speed up the flow of water along portions of the creek. Phase four, tentatively slated for summer of 2012, would soften an "S" shaped channel near the site of the 2008 railroad realignment project to make the channel more smooth and increase capacity.
Other projects tentatively slated include reshaping the concrete walls in the Dupont channels to a smoother square shape to increase efficiency.
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