Residents want solution after raw sewage ends up in their backyards

MCCANDLESS, Pa. — People living in McCandless are frustrated and believe new development is making the issue worse.

Scott Mangold showed Channel 11 where floodwaters reached last Friday during torrential rains behind his Patricia Drive home.

“Something needs done because it's not fair,” Mangold said.

His neighbor posted a picture on Facebook thanking the fire department, but criticizing the township for the flood and sewage backups in some of the homes.

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“The issue is that they keep building upstream. They built McCandless Crossing and LA Fitness and everytime they do that, what used to be grass and trees ends up being a parking lot and it all rushes downstream instead of getting absorbed,” Mangold said.

But McCandless town manager Tabias Cordeck says it's not the development, but the amount of rain that fell so quickly.

“The kind of storm that we had, which is a once in a 500 year storm, is really beyond anyone can expect to have contained,” Cordeck said.

He told Channel 11 their system can handle a once in 25 years storm and they're working on making it stronger.

But he says it would be virtually impossible to handle the amount of rain that fell on Friday.

“We had about .96 inches of rain in about 15 minutes, which equates to a storm happening one out of every 500 years,” Cordeck said.

Mangold said McCandless did drainage improvements in their neighborhood just within the last year, but it's done nothing to help.

“It's a problem! And they always act like they are concerned, but they do nothing about it,” Mangold said.

The town manager says McCandless received a grant in 2008 allowing them to organize a stormwater management ordinance and to coordinate work across the North Hills.

Cox Media Group