Cracks caused by mine subsidence still apparent in Lincoln Place after repairs
The heavy machinery is gone, but the cracks caused by mine subsidence are still apparent in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood. Several homeowners tell Channel 11 that they’re not happy with the “fix.”
“Troublesome,” said Kevin Morsek. “It’s been a pain.”
>> Abandoned mine subsidence damages VFW, local homes
That pain started last Fall when the land in this area shifted due to an underground mine. Something Kevin Morsek never expected after having lived here for 30 years.
“Structurally, my house is sound,” said Morsek. “Very minor compared to what some of the others had.”
For three months, the Department of Environment Protection worked on an emergency stabilization project, which included drilling 39 holes and pumping a cement-like grout into those holes to stabilize an abandoned mine that was 160 feet under 10 structures.
“Supposedly what they did is going to stop any further subsidence from happening,” said Morsek. “From what I understand, that’s a pretty permanent fix, but I want things to get back to the way they were.”
The DEP says its work here is done, but it would still look into any mine subsidence insurance claims. Many of these homeowners did not have this kind of insurance.
“It’s a really unfortunate situation,” said Pittsburgh City Councilperson Barb Warwick. “For those that have damage to their homes, but they didn’t have mine subsidence insurance I definitely understand the feeling of being left holding the bag. We at the City. I know I am working with Representative Pisciottano’s office trying to look for various grants. Maybe, possibly something from the URA. But again, these would all be nontraditional ways to address an issue of a homeowner who didn’t have the insurance to fix the issue now with the home.”
City Councilperson Barb Warwick is encouraging residents to get mine subsidence insurance now.
“If you notice this type of thing in your own community, please be sure to let your elected officials know and your municipality know if you ever see unexpected cracks or something like that suddenly in your house,” said Warwick. “There’s always been talk about mines in the 31st ward and it’s always kind of like that thing where you’re like oh it’s never going to happen and then it does and wow it can be very devastating.”
Meanwhile, Morsek hopes the DEP keeps its promise to come back out to his property.
“I just called a couple weeks ago and was again reassured by a representative with the DEP that they would come back here and finish up all the work here that needs to be done for everyone in the neighborhood,” said Morsek.
Councilperson Warwick says her office is looking into a way to make sure new homeowners know about mine subsidence insurance just like they would be told about regular homeowner’s insurance.
Channel 11 reached out to Senator John Fetterman’s office as well as Mayor Ed Gainey’s office.
“We attended a Lincoln Place meeting a couple of months ago where residents expressed their frustrations surrounding some issues including the mine subsidence,” said Press Secretary Olga George. “We pointed out at that time, that the City does not have any authority surrounding the mine subsidence issue. This is under the authority of the DEP and the State of Pennsylvania. Mayor Ed Gainey spoke directly with a male homeowner and expressed that he would alert Senator Costa about this situation. The Mayor did have that conversation with Senator Costa as promised.”
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