Retention pond suggested for flood prevention

September 18, 1998|By KERRY LYNN FRALEY

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Putting a stormwater retention pond upstream from the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Park will help solve perennial flooding problems along U.S. 11 and Berkeley Station Road, Berkeley County Engineer William J. Teach told the Berkeley County Commission on Thursday.

The pond is part of a roughly half-million-dollar plan Teach proposed to the commission as an alternative to a cheaper Department of Highways plan that he said would just push the problem downstream.

The new plan is based on findings of an extensive study of the area and the flooding problem, Teach said.

The area, just north of Martinsburg, has a long history of flooding, he said. Residents say it has gotten worse since Interstate 81 was built, Teach said.

U.S. 11 floods regularly in three places and occasionally in a fourth, according to a Berkeley County Engineering Department report.

It also floods a mobile home park and two sanitary sewer stations, according to the report.

"There's an awful lot of water, an awful lot of water," Teach said.

The project will require the purchase of some land south of the industrial park for the pond, he said.

Other work would be needed downstream, including cleaning ditch lines, grading new ditches, installing a 36-inch pipe across an auto salvage yard and installing additional pipes where necessary, he said.

The county should be able to get at least $50,000 in Department of Highway funds earmarked for its solution, which involved diverting drainage with additional pipes, said Commissioner D. Wayne Dunham.

That would be part of the plan, along with utilizing the local delegation's influence to get other state money and applying for grants, Teach said.

The land should be owned by the state, not the county, said Commission President James Smith.

Commissioner Robert L. Burkhart was absent from the meeting.

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