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St. Mary’s and South Catholic High holds mega 60’s reunion

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Just how much of a risk is the crumbling Coxton railroad bridge owned by a company associated with jailed businessman Leo A. Glodzik III?It depends on whom you&#8217;re asking.The state Department of Environmental Protection says the crumbling span across the Susquehanna River between Duryea and Exeter Township is in &#8220;imminent&#8221; danger of collapse.That&#8217;s the same word DEP has been using since a February 2014 inspection, which stated that such a collapse &#8220;would create an immediate danger of a stream obstruction and hazard to life or property.&#8221;A county official, on the other hand, says a total collapse of the deteriorating structure is &#8220;highly unlikely.&#8221;Christopher Belleman, executive director of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority, said damage to the abandoned Coxton railroad bridge does compromise its ability to support itself, but he feels any collapse would only affect a portion of the 1,000-foot structure.If a collapse is indeed imminent &#8212; as DEP has maintained for more than a year &#8212; that was not reflected in an order issued Monday by Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough, who gave LAG 54 days to submit a permit application &#8220;proposing to remove or modify&#8221; the bridge.If LAG were to comply and obtain the permit, that would start the clock ticking again, with the company granted 180 more days either to confirm the bridge is structurally sound, or to remove the structure entirely, including the concrete and stone masonry supports and piers.As of Friday afternoon, DEP and officials in Vough&#8217;s chambers said they had not been notified of any permit application being submitted.Glodzik in June began serving a three-to-12-month sentence at Luzerne County Correctional Facility for a May 2014 theft conviction in an unrelated case.Efforts to reach his sister Pilar Glodzik, president of LAG Wrecking, were not successful.BackgroundLeo Glodzik, doing business as LAG Wrecking, purchased the dormant bridge from the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority in 2007 for $500. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State corporations registry, LAG Wrecking was incorporated on Nov. 30, 2007, and remains an active corporation.Glodzik said he intended to tear the bridge down for scrap. But the years passed, and that never happened. According to previous Times Leader reports:&#8226; 2011 &#8212; The flood authority warns Glodzik about problems with the bridge after it was damaged in that year&#8217;s historic flooding.&#8226; 2012 &#8212; Glodzik tells a reporter he is negotiating a deal to sell the bridge to a scrap company. But he also tells the paper his own engineers had inspected the bridge and assured him it was in no danger of collapse.&#8226; July 2013 &#8212; Luzerne County Council approves a $10 million federal flood recovery project list which includes $614,600 to demolish the bridge, based on an engineer&#8217;s estimate.&#8226; February 2014 &#8212; Inspection finds bridge &#8220;in imminent danger of collapse.&#8221; LAG is later informed of violations. &#8226; June 2014 &#8212; DEP and LAG hold a series of meetings to discuss the violations. That same month, county officials announce that grant money could be used to cover removal of the bridge, but only after the owner exhausts all resources to do so.&#8226; July 2014 &#8212; DEP receives a letter from LAG stating it &#8220;will not proceed with any of the Department&#8217;s corrective action requests due to financial circumstances.&#8221;Glodzik, already fighting his conviction and sentence in the theft case, was that month indicted in a separate federal fraud case involving the Wilkes-Barre City Employees Federal Credit Union.His trials in the fraud case, and in a federal firearms case, are still pending.&#8226; August 2014 &#8212; DEP issues an administrative order directing LAG to correct the violations. The order created a timetable, giving LAG 54 days to submit a permit application detailing its plans to comply and another 180 days upon receipt of a permit to carry out its plans.&#8226; September 2014 &#8212; LAG appeals the order to the Environmental Hearing Board.&#8226; May 29 &#8212; The board dismisses LAG&#8217;s appeal, citing a board rule that a corporation must be represented by legal counsel. LAG does not appeal that ruling, and DEP turns to the court to seek compliance.&#8226; July 24 &#8212; When contacted after DEP&#8217;s court filing, Pilar Glodzik tells the Times Leader she has not seen the document and has no comment.&#8226; Aug. 24 &#8212; Vough orders LAG to comply with DEP&#8217;s compliance order. If LAG fails to comply, the Duryea-based firm, with offices at 83 Foote Ave., faces fines of $100 per day.DEP respondsHow does the DEP know the bridge is in such bad shape? Spokeswoman Colleen Connolly addressed that issue Friday in an e-mailed response to questions from a reporter.&#8220;DEP&#8217;s Waterways and Wetlands staff is basing its assessment on visual inspections. Meaning just looking at and observing the bridge and its surroundings,&#8221; she wrote.&#8220;Obviously, you can see one bridge pillar is standing on only a few concrete blocks. Our inspectors can only make a determination on what they see. Future events such as flooding and/or the passage of ice could further deteriorate the pillars,&#8221; Connolly added.Exactly what impact a collapse would have on the river and surrounding areas also is uncertain, she explained, when asked if the fallen bridge would create a flood risk.&#8220;That would depend what the water elevation of the Susquehanna River is at the time and the degree of ice or floatable debris within the river that may build up behind the collapsed structure,&#8221; Connolly wrote. &#8220;That is one potential outcome that could create an obstruction in the water and cause water to back up and flood low-lying areas.&#8221;Scenarios consideredDuryea Mayor Keith Moss said he does not anticipate a collapse having serious consequences for his borough, but worries more for folks in the Harding area.&#8220;I can&#8217;t understand why Glodzik bought it,&#8221; Moss said of the bridge. &#8220;I think his idea was to buy it and scrap it.&#8221;The flood authority&#8217;s Belleman believes a partial collapse is more likely than a total collapse &#8212; and in such a case, he predicted localized ponding while most water flows around the new obstruction.&#8220;I believe that the threat to the public would be minimal with a localized collapse,&#8221; Belleman said. &#8220;I would not anticipate any loss of life or any serious property loss.&#8221;Damage to the levee system, he said, is also unlikely.&#8220;Possibly yes, but the risk level is low,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I believe that the bridge site is too far away from the Wyoming Valley Flood Risk Management project for the authority to be overly concerned about damage.&#8221;At the same time, Belleman does believe the span needs to go.The process of demolishing such a bridge, according to Belleman, typically involves the construction of a causeway which catches the structure after a controlled detonation. Crews then dismantle and remove the metal sections, after which work can begin in demolishing the concrete and stone supports.&#8220;The bridge has been abandoned for years and is a waterway obstruction,&#8221; Belleman said. &#8220;For the long-term safety of the public, the structure needs to be safely demolished.&#8221;Next stepsAsked whether the bridge can be repaired, Connolly said DEP does not make that determination, but did indicate in its 2014 order that repairing the span is an option which remains open to the owner.She did not know whether LAG had hired a consultant to assess whether repairs would be feasible.If LAG simply won&#8217;t comply, what then? Could the state demolish the bridge on its own?In an interview last year, Connolly told a reporter that there was a remote possibility that state funding could be used if LAG cannot come up with the money, though she could not recall any case of that happening with a privately-owned bridge.Responding to a similar question on Friday, Connolly emailed back a section of DEP&#8217;s regulations, which state that the department may take corrective action if:&#8226; The owner cannot be ascertained or found.&#8226; The owner refuses or fails to comply with an order issued by DEP.&#8226; The condition of the facility is so dangerous as to require immediate remedial action.Also, according to regulations cited by Connolly, DEP &#8220;may recover from the owner, in the name of the Commonwealth, the expenses incurred in taking the action.&#8221;But if the bridge were to collapse on its own, would DEP remove the debris?&#8220;That has not been determined,&#8221; Connolly wrote.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">State officials are pressing for the repair or removal of this abandoned railroad bridge, between Exeter and Duryea, which is owned by LAG Wrecking. A judge on Monday ordered LAG to initiate work or face fines of $100 per day. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082615bridge.jom_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>State officials are pressing for the repair or removal of this abandoned railroad bridge, between Exeter and Duryea, which is owned by LAG Wrecking. A judge on Monday ordered LAG to initiate work or face fines of $100 per day. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Leo-Glodzik-May-20153.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Glodzik </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Leo-Glodzik-May-20153.jpg</photo1><caption1>Glodzik </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Roger DuPuisrdupuis@www.timesleader.comand James O&#8217;Malleyjomalley@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Roger DuPuis at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @rogerdupuis2.</shirttailMeta></div>

Opinions differ on danger presented by Coxton railroad bridge