BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — June 2018 is hard to forget for the area of Bridgeville, but relief was to come with a huge project backed with FEMA money. Now, it’s all in jeopardy.
“This project brought hope to Bridgeville. This has been an ongoing problem and our community has faced flooding for generations,” said Joe Kauer, who is Bridgeville’s Borough Manager.
That flood damaged 127 homes, 48 businesses and an Upper St. Clair woman even lost her life. That led to research of how best to help this community thrive moving forward and a nearly $7 million answer was created with a levy system project.
“We are essentially a shovel-ready project that is aimed to save lives, reduce future losses in FEMA claims and flood insurance claims because the levy is proposed to be 3 feet above the 100-year floodplain,” Kauer said.
The project is only possible with a $5.3 million FEMA grant awarded in 2023. But just this month, FEMA announced the program is cancelled and that money is being returned to the US Treasury, citing the program as “wasteful and ineffective.”
“It wasn’t wasteful, it wasn’t politicized, this is a project that was a good investment of federal funds that would save federal funds in the future to mitigate future flood loss,” Kauer said.
While borough leaders are staying optimistic and reaching out to lawmakers for help, some residents believe funding should be cut and there should be another way to fix the problem.
“I think we should find where we can spend money and where we can’t, a lot of the grant money started out as studies - we don’t need a study - it flooded. They should have just gone right away and built the levies,” said Brian Hunger, who lives in Bridgeville.
The Borough has already invested $200,000 in environmental studies and is preparing to get this project started.
Senator John Fetterman issued a statement about the situation saying:
“Absolute b******t. Red and Blue homes and businesses flood equally. Mitigating flooding is 100% bipartisan and pulling this funding is as stupid as it is dangerous.”
Representative Summer Lee also commented on the situation. She said:
“Communities in my district are dedicated to investing in the safety and resilience of our homes, businesses, and people. Revoking already-allocated FEMA funding threatens all of that, especially at a time when natural disasters and floods are putting lives and infrastructure at risk. While this administration makes reckless decisions about our homes and futures, I’ll continue to stand with my constituents to restore the funding allocated to Bridgeville. Our boroughs and our people deserve better.”
The Shapiro administration sent Channel 11 the following statement:
“The Shapiro Administration is reviewing FEMA’s announcement and working to determine its full impact on Pennsylvania. According to Pennsylvania Emergency Management (PEMA) records, FEMA has obligated nearly $55 million in BRIC grant funding to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – critical funding that helps to lessen the impacts of future disasters, such as flooding, landslides, power outages, and more.
“If FEMA pulls back all BRIC funding, Pennsylvania stands to lose a total of $128 million for 39 projects and state management costs aimed at reducing future disasters. These projects, like the one in Bridgeville, will help to mitigate disasters and build safer communities across the Commonwealth.”
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