The dust has settled in Springdale, but crews and residents continue to clean and address the aftermath of the implosion of the two smokestacks at the Cheswick Generating Station.
The stacks, staples of the Springdale and Cheswick skyline for years, went out with a bang Friday morning through a planned implosion. Controlled Demolition Inc., contractor Grant Mackay Co. and Cheswick Plant Environmental Redevelopment Group, a subsidiary of property owner Charah Solutions, handled the demolition.
Company working to address concerns
Scott Reschly, Charah’s vice president of operations, said the company continues to receive notifications from neighbors near the implosion. Officials are working to address each concern, and they have attempted to make contact with everyone who has submitted a concern, he said.
Crews are about “95% done” with cleanup, including power-washing and cleanup of cars and properties, he said. Crews also are cleaning and collecting dust and insulation from people’s yards.
“The majority of that cleanup, that we’re aware of, is pretty much done at this point,” Reschly said.
On Monday, crews could be seen power-washing nearby homes.
Reschly didn’t immediately have a number of properties impacted or people who filed submissions. People who believe their properties were impacted can continue to reach out to Charah and complete a submission form on its website at charah.com.
Reschly said the majority of reports are related to the power surge that happened when electric lines were knocked down by the force of the 750-foot smokestack hitting the ground. Following the implosion, power outages were reported in Springdale, Cheswick and Harmar.
More on the Springdale smokestack implosions:
• Amid dusty cleanup, Springdale residents remain unsettled in the wake of smokestack implosions
• Springdale smokestacks come down but take down power lines; some home damage reported
• Photo gallery: Cheswick Generating Station’s smokestacks come down
• Watch: Springdale smokestacks come down
• What to know about the implosions of the Cheswick Generating Station smokestacks
Once representatives are made aware of a concern, Reschly said, the company reaches out to the homeowner and sets up an opportunity to meet and address the issue. From there, they set up a time for a contractor to make necessary repairs or discuss a replacement plan for appliances.
“It’s tailored to work with the neighbor and have a conversation with that homeowner to best serve their concerns,” he said.
Concerns remain
Joe Kern looked no further than his neighborhood in Springdale’s Duquesne Court to see the aftermath of the implosion.
He said crews have been around twice to clean the area, but remnants of dust and debris remain despite workers doing “the best they could.” He said he is not blaming local officials, but he is not satisfied with the response from Charah.
“We knew it was going to get dusty,” Kern said. “What we’re saying is we didn’t know it was going to be a typhoon that blocked out the sun.”
His concerns are what is in the debris and the impact it may have on children playing outside. Kern said he has cornea abrasions and got rashes and skin irritation in the days following the blast.
Reschly said Charah contacted a third party that tested the insulation and found it was negative for asbestos.
Kern also brought up the plant’s history. The site faced a number of lawsuits in recent years over air and water pollution at the site before Charah Solutions took over the property. Duquesne Light Co. originally founded the station in 1920 and built the first smokestack, with an orange-and-white-striped top, in 1970. The second tower was completed in 2007.
In 2021, then-owner GenOn Holdings sold the plant to Charah, which has spent the intervening time preparing for demolition and remediating the site for future use.
Neighbor Angelica Shafer also raised questions about the implosion. She said she was told the blast’s aftermath would be minimal and would be cleaned up quickly, but dust and debris continue to blow into her and her neighbors’ yards.
She said she has not contacted Charah yet, but she plans to.
“I wanted to make sure I have all the info behind me,” she said.
She plans to get the dust and debris tested by a third party. She said there is a difference in the air around her home since the implosion.
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“It’s just sad. It’s very sad,” she said.
Emergency response intact
Officials said a small amount of explosives was used to create a notch at each chimney’s base to fell the structures in a controlled fashion. The towers fell to a cleared site north of the property that was formerly used as a coal yard.
Officials blame an air blast following the implosion for the damage to nearby power lines and trees along the site’s property line on Pittsburgh Street.
Bruno Moretti, Allegheny Valley’s emergency management coordinator, said the preparations from police, fire and emergency services went according to plan Friday.
“Not one person was injured,” he said.
He said that, immediately following the implosion, crews from Charah Solutions, Grant Mackay and Controlled Demolition Inc. were out surveying the area and cleaning.
The state Department of Environmental Protection also is investigating the area, he said.
“They’re doing their due diligence on it,” he said.
The Allegheny County Health Department had representatives on the scene during the implosion, Moretti said.
Air quality
Before the implosion, officials said in a memo to residents that, while they weren’t expecting a big dust event, dust is an unpreventable byproduct of demolition. It stated that dust is released in a matter of seconds and could linger in the area for four to six minutes, and is dependent on the weather and the wind that day. Residents were advised to close windows, doors, air intakes and other openings that could allow dust to enter a building.
According to Allason Holt, manager of the Allegheny County Health Department’s Air Quality Enforcement Program, the entity does not regularly perform mobile monitoring and did not collect any measurements of the dust cloud following the smokestacks’ demolition.
“Air quality staff performed multiple inspections of smokestacks, and no known asbestos was present at the time of the demolition, based on the final inspection,” Holt said in a statement. “Since the known asbestos was abated, the remaining building materials would contribute to airborne dust.
“There could be particulates from the ground and dust from the explosives pulverizing the smokestacks’ brickwork.”
Holt said the health department does not regulate or inspect for lead paint or other hazards associated with such demolitions.
Holt said the dust kicked up by the implosion did affect air quality in the short term, but the dust cloud dissipated as winds moved the air mass after the implosion and dispersed any lingering airborne dust.
Kellen Stepler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kellen by email at kstepler@triblive.com or via Twitter .
