First Posted: 3/17/2015
State officials are concerned that an ice jam on the Susquehanna River could cause a dilapidated railroad bridge owned by embattled towing company owner Leo A. Glodzik III to collapse and lead to significant flooding.
Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said the department has been sending an inspector twice daily to check on the Coxton Bridge, which crosses the river between the Coxton Railroad Yard in Duryea and Exeter Township.
“If you look at the pillar in the middle, it’s already down to one block,” Connolly said. “The pressure the ice could put on the pillar, the worst possible scenario is that it could cause a collapse, which could cause an obstruction in the river and lead to more flooding.”
Glodzik, doing business as L.A.G. Wrecking, bought the bridge from the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority for $500 in 2007. The sale was made with the understanding that Glodzik bought the bridge to tear it down for scrap. But there was nothing in writing stipulating that it be demolished.
In April 2014, DEP had informed Glodzik that an inspection revealed the bridge to be “in a state of decay,” and that deterioration of its stone piers placed the structure “in imminent danger of collapse” and created “an immediate danger of a stream obstruction and hazard to life or property.”
L.A.G. had indicated it did not have the financial means to fix or tear down the bridge.
On Aug. 13, the same day the FBI raided Glodzik’s business interests and the city shut down his Wilkes-Barre towing company due to alleged code violations, DEP issued an administrative order giving L.A.G. 54 days to obtain a permit to either repair or tear down the bridge. If the permit was approved, L.A.G. would have 180 days to take action.
L.A.G. appealed the order in September, and the matter has been before the state Environmental Hearing Board since. L.A.G.’s attorney Michael Sklarosky withdrew as counsel effective Oct. 31, and the court gave L.A.G. 30 days to find new representation, but that has not happened to date, according to the board docket.
In a letter sent today to the hearing board, DEP attorney Lance Zeyher expressed concern about the integrity of the bridge, “particularly as Winter turns to Spring and it is anticipated that the river will rise with snowmelt and precipitation.”
Noting that L.A.G. had not responded to a Dec. 29 letter from the board, Zeyher said DEP wants to bring the appeal to a close, “so that other enforcement or actions may be taken with respect to the bridge.”
Meanwhile, Glodzik and others are scheduled to go to trial in April on federal bank fraud charges related to the Wilkes-Barre City Federal Credit Union.
