A second downtown Scranton water main break in less than two weeks again closed businesses and government buildings and forced residents to boil their water or find clean water elsewhere.
For business owner and landlord Tom Borthwick, the second break only compounded the impact of the first.
"For my tenants ... people need to take showers. There needs to be water in the tank in a toilet. There needs to be water to cook, to drink. I mean, it really is a massive disruption," he said. "For the commercial businesses, now you're looking at a livelihood."
Borthwick co-owns DaVinci Pizza on the Square, The Cidery on Linden Street, and three Linden Street buildings with apartments on upper floors.
The properties are at the epicenter of Monday's rupture of a 141-year-old, 24-inch water main under the 200 block of North Washington Avenue.
About 770 customers are affected, Pennsylvania American Water said.
The break appeared to be in front of the federal courthouse across from Lackawanna County Courthouse Square, initially sending muddy waves cascading over the streets and sidewalks.
"Just trying to park on Linden Street and get to my own buildings and businesses was not an easy thing," Borthwick said.
THE LATEST AS OF MONDAY NIGHT
● Pa. American water expects to complete repairs by 9 a.m. Tuesday
● Scranton City Hall expected to reopen 11 a.m. Tuesday
● Adjusted start time for Lackawanna County work/operations is 11 a.m. Tuesday, which will be confirmed or revised as needed at 8:30 a.m.
Updates from Pa. American Water, Cognetti
Water company spokeswoman Alana Roberts released the following statement at 5:20 p.m.:
"Crews continue working to restore service after the downtown water main break and are making steady progress on repairs to a broken 24-inch main from 1885. We understand many customers have experienced multiple service disruptions in recent weeks, and we know another interruption is frustrating. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as work continues," Roberts said.
"We are working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible and will continue to provide updates as repairs progress. We expect to complete repairs by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28," Roberts said.
A boil water advisory remains in place until testing confirms the water is safe to drink, Roberts said.
The boil advisory applies to customers in the areas on the map attached to this story. More information can be found here.
Drinking water is available from tankers located at Biden Street and Wyoming Avenue and at Linden Street and North Washington Avenue. Customers should bring their own containers to collect water, Roberts said.
Mayor Paige Cognetti also released a statement Monday afternoon.
"City officials are in constant communication with Pennsylvania American Water Company and PAWC’s contractors at the work site as they fix the water main break downtown," Cognetti said.
Cognetti also announced that food was being provided to those without dinner Monday evening at Scranton Fire Headquarters on Mulberry Street.
"Thanks to SFD, city staff, and Cooper’s Seafood for getting dinner to downtown residents tonight," Cognetti posted on Facebook. "We had enough soup and hoagies to get us through to 8 p.m."
A ripple effect around downtown
Officials said Scranton City Hall was closed Monday, as were the following Lackawanna County buildings: the Gateway Building, Lackawanna County Courthouse, community corrections, the Brixx Building, the county Government Center and the PenFed/Health and Human Services Building.
STATEMENT FROM SCRANTON MAYOR PAIGE COGNETTI
City officials are in constant communication with Pennsylvania American Water Company and PAWC’s contractors at the work site as they fix the water main break downtown.
Please continue to check PAWC’s social media for updates. We share what PAWC communicates from our city socials as quickly as possible.
If you are in need of immediate assistance, please call (570) 983-5298.
We are grateful to everyone coordinating to keep folks safe today, and my office will work with PAWC leadership to make sure that these repairs are made quickly and thoroughly.
We appreciate our partnership with local PAWC staff and crews. We will push their corporate leadership to get them the resources they need to prevent these unacceptable disruptions to our city, our residents, our businesses, and visitors.
Borthwick, who also serves as Scranton School Board president, said the district's administration building on North Washington Avenue also was closed Monday.
Business owner and developer John Basalyga, whose holdings include The Marketplace at Steamtown and Crunch Fitness, said some mall tenants shut down, too.
"We have a lot of hospitality-type vendors ... and medical as well. So it is hurting business a lot," Basalyga said Monday afternoon.
"I think Starbucks just closed. Crunch Fitness closed. I'm not sure if the medical [tenants have], but you know, without running water, they're going to be forced to, and that's not an easy thing to close up," he added.
Borthwick echoed that, saying foodservice businesses such as his were especially hard-hit.
"You know you can't clean dishes or equipment without water," he said.
"This kind of thing happening grinds business to a halt. And it's not just me. I mean, it's everybody downtown is suffering, and government is shut down," Borthwick said. "I hate to say it, but it's a cascading effect."
Rose Barclay was one of the people feeling those effects later Monday.
It was still 85 degrees out as the downtown resident visited the water tanker at Linden Street and North Washington Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m.
She filled water bottles to take home for cooking, and for her son's hygiene needs: Barclay said her son is on the autism spectrum and frequent daily handwashing is essential to him.
"He washes his hands probably 100 times a day, and I don't want him to feel overwhelmed," Barclay said. "So I'm a mom. I'll go collect water."
A short time earlier U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan visited the break site nearby. He told WVIA News he had been in touch with Pennsylvania American Water to ask about how long repairs would take.
"They made some indications that they're hopeful and optimistic that the water could be turned back on by tomorrow [Tuesday], but there still will be a boil advisory in place tomorrow," said Bresnahan, who said he was making plans to distribute water from his downtown office if needed.
"Thinking about the residents, the small businesses that have just been going through the multiple water main breaks, I think this just highlights the necessity to continue to invest in infrastructure," said Bresnahan, a first-term incumbent Republican from Luzerne County who is facing a challenge from Democrat Cognetti in November's general election.
Concerns about more breaks
Monday's rupture was the second substantial center city water main break this month.
The first hit July 17, and left much of downtown without water or under a boil water advisory on the eve of that weekend's FIFA Fan Zone soccer events on Courthouse Square.
The Fan Zone event was held as planned, but some businesses were forced to close as repairs continued, preventing them from opening their doors to the throngs of attendees.
Borthwick and Basalyga said they hope this second break isn't a harbinger of more to come.
"I don't want to have to wonder if this is going to keep happening over and over," Borthwick said.
"When was the last time Pennsylvania American Water looked at all of these lines downtown," he added. "And is there a schedule to replace them, or is this just going to be whack-a-mole where businesses are not going to know if they're going to be able to be open?"
Basalyga worries ongoing downtown streetscape construction work could have affected aging water lines.
"With all the road work downtown, you know, you have jackhammering going on, you have digging going on. So if these lines are old, you know, these are jarring things loose," he said.
"And in my opinion, that's probably what's causing it now," Basalyga said. "Things are being moved that have been sitting down in the ground for 100 years, and and even any slight movement could break something loose."
City engineer: Streetscape work not near main breaks
According to Scranton city spokesman Christopher Hughes, the city engineer said "the streetscape projects were not working anywhere near today's or last week's water main break and the city projects did not cause these issues."
Borthwick also suggested the city or Pennsylvania American Water should consider providing low-interest loans to businesses affected by the two main breaks.
"Mayor Cognetti is contacting American Water leadership to push for relief for impacted businesses," Hughes said.
Water company spokeswoman Roberts did not respond to emailed questions from WVIA, including whether streetscape construction could have been a factor in the two main breaks and whether financial relief for businesses was under consideration.
