Corrections to this article were made on November 22, 2021 at noon.
On Friday, November 12th there was a site visit with the Army Corps of Engineers. In attendance were four resident CAG members, Josh Barber, six Army Corps personnel including the newly appointed Commander, an Engineer from Phila. Water Department and one resident from Saturn Place. They met for 1 ½ hours and had a very productive meeting.
Below is a summary of the discussions:
- USACE shared that the two forms of flood risk management currently under consideration are a levee (to generally be located in the park behind Saturn Place) and property acquisition. Other flood risk management measures have been considered by USACE and were discussed at the site visit.
- The exact location of the levee has not been determined yet as the study continues to this regard.
- The Philadelphia Water Department, representing the City, are partnering on this endeavor. The City will make the decision on what happens depending on the Corps recommendations at the end of the study. A draft report is due in Fall of 2022.
- USACE Engineers are continuing to study the area and will be deciding the options according to the available land and the location of the landfill. There are many things to consider.
- Josh was instrumental and took a lead role in these discussions in terms of explaining remediation of the landfill, materials used throughout, including Cobbs Creek shore and banks.
- Josh asked many questions about the study, the levee location and how the levee would tie into the landfill which includes the retainer wall being constructed behind the landfill next to the creek.
- CAG members made it abundantly clear that the entire community at large needs to be informed regularly about the study and a serious effort and method has to be devised by the City to keep the entire community informed.
- USACE agreed to give updates and information about the study every 90 days. These updates would be communicated to the City and then distributed to the community. The method has not yet been determined.
- Once the recommendation from USACE has been decided upon, the City and PWD will make a decision, one way or the other. If there is a decision to proceed with the Corps recommendation, the Design phase will begin, which could take up to two years to complete.
