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Water Main Leak Near Renzie Floods Homes, Closes Roads

By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
April 12, 2018
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

A water main near Renziehausen Park began leaking Thursday morning, flooding several homes and leaving parts of Haler Heights, the 11th Ward and Versailles Borough with low or no water pressure.

The incident happened just before 10:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Palm Street as crews from Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County worked to install a new valve on a 16-inch water main, said Matt Junker, authority spokesman.

"When the new valve was installed, a sleeve that holds it to the pipe shifted, causing a leak" in a nearby 12-inch pipe, Junker said.

The leak was isolated at about 2 p.m. Thursday, he said.

Homes in the area of Palm and King streets were flooded by the initial leak, and debris washed down onto Eden Park Boulevard, said Steve Kondrosky, McKeesport public works director.

The break also buckled King Street, Kondrosky said, which will likely be "closed for some time."

Low water pressure was reported across the city, said a spokeswoman for McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko.

Due to lack of water, Serra Catholic High School, located in Haler Heights, cancelled classes for the afternoon and dismissed students early, though a spokesperson said after-school baseball and softball games were being played as scheduled.

At the McKeesport Area School District middle school and high school campus, an alternative source of drinking water has been provided, but classes were in session Thursday afternoon, said Kristen James, district spokeswoman.

Kondrosky said crews from Allegheny County public works were on Eden Park Boulevard doing repairs, and helped reopen the road. "If there is such a thing as a good time for this to happen, this is it," Kondrosky said.

(This story will be updated with additional details as they become available.)

Originally published April 12, 2018.

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