Lower Valley resident ready for power plant demo: 'I just want it over'

Lorraine Parks of Springdale was quick to answer when asked her thoughts about the upcoming demolition of the boiler house across the street from her house.

“I just want it over,” said the Porter Street resident.

After plans and legal back-and-forths spanning about a year-and-a-half, the demolition of the boiler house at the former Cheswick Generating Station is scheduled to occur Sunday.

A time of the demolition will be announced closer to Sunday. It’s anticipated it will occur sometime in the morning.

About the demolition

Explosives will not be used for the demolition, according to a notice released by the borough. Instead, crews will use a cable-pull technique to collapse the building.

The actual fall will take about 30 seconds or less.

CPERG, the property owner, originally had intended to demolish the building via implosion in September 2023. But a lawsuit filed by 16 residents claimed a previous implosion of two towering chimneys damaged their properties and endangered their health.

Although the injunction was later reversed, CPERG contracted with B&B Wrecking of Cleveland to demolish the 13-story building.

The pull will occur when the wind is coming out of the north, north northeast or north northwest at 15 mph or less.

People will be notified the time of the pull via the Springdale Borough Facebook page, its website and local alert system.

Three other buildings at the site have been demolished the same way.

The boiler house is the last standing building at the site.

Preparations

Officials expect no significant dust to go into the neighborhood.

CPERG officials have said they have taken, and continue to take, steps to minimize dust created, including removing large portions of the building before the rest of it is pulled.

They also are washing the building, will pull it down onto a concrete pad and use soil stabilizers.

Dust suppression equipment, concrete berms around the landing area and fabric placed on a chain link fence will be used to minimize dust.

Dee Marsh of Cheswick said an official stopped by her home Thursday with information regarding the demolition.

“There will be noise, but I’m expecting that,” she said. “I’ll stay in my house until it’s over.”

Road closures

There will be road closures and detours near the power plant site. An hour before the final preparations for the demolition begins, Pittsburgh Street and Freeport Road will be closed from Murrayhill Avenue in Cheswick to Colfax Street in Springdale.

Signs will be posted at the closures and police will be on site. A safety perimeter will be established around the location — on South Duquesne Avenue, and Pittsburgh and Porter streets.

No one will be allowed on any closed streets or public easements.

People who live within the exclusion zone don’t have to evacuate but are strongly encouraged to remain inside during the demolition and a half-hour later.

Streets will reopen as soon as the contractor gives an all-clear and all areas have been inspected.

Thru-traffic coming from Harmar on Freeport Road should turn onto Low Grade Road, left onto Pillow Avenue, left onto Hite Road, take Route 28 northbound to the Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard exit, then turn right onto Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard, left onto Tawney Run Road, right onto Riddle Run and follow Riddle Run Road back to Pittsburgh Street.

Vehicles coming from East Deer should take the same detour in the opposite direction.

‘It is what it is’

Cheswick native Russell Gruchalak believes that pulling the building down may be a better and safer option than using explosives.

“There may be less dust; I think that’s a big factor,” he said.

Gruchalak plans to watch the demolition from inside his home that’s up North Duquesne Avenue overlooking the structure.

“It is what it is,” he said. “My one wish — is that everybody’s safe.”

Marsh also thinks a pull-down will be better. She’s hoping the weather conditions are right Sunday so that the structure can come down.

“I think it will be OK,” she said. “I hope it will go off.”

While Springdale’s Parks also wants to be rid of the boiler house, she’s not very confident with the plans.

“I’m leery of everything,” she said. “It didn’t go right the first time.

“I worry about: Is it devaluing my house? I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

During the June 2023 chimney implosion, one of the stacks failed to break apart as intended, causing it to fall mostly intact until it hit the ground. Nearby residents had alleged it caused an air blast, leaving dust and debris on their properties and causing an electrical power surge in parts of Springdale, Cheswick and Harmar.

“They’re doing what they can to make it happen correctly,” Parks said, “but you saw what happened the first time.”