Oct 15, 2021 4 min read

Some Donora residents are not happy about the coal trucks that traverse through the northern end of the borough and the damage they feel is being created.

They came to Thursday’s council meeting en masse to be heard on the issue. A standing room only crowd packed council chambers.  A handful of the citizens addressed council.

Their concern stems from what they refer to a “constant truck traffic feeding the Donora River Terminal,” which is subsidiary of Robindale Energy & Associated Companies, which is based in Latrobe.  

They say the trucks have has caused destruction to the infrastructure, negatively impacted the environment, increased safety hazards for motorists and pedestrians, created health hazards and caused a deterioration of quality of life and property for borough citizens.

Resident Jim DeLattre said a primary issue is the dust that comes from the trucks.

“It’s horrible,” he told council. “We get dust off the trucks and we get big lumps of coal. We have people with swimming pool and those pools are filled with that coal dust.  “

DeLattre said this problem has been going on for years and trucks can be heard as early as 1 a.m. He said the trucks are washed, but that does not seem to be offering any type of solution.

“There’s water all over down there,” DeLattre said. “When they wash the trucks the water goes into a puddle. The trucks go through the puddle, they bring the water onto the road, it hardens. You can see how black it is. Trucks travel over that, cars travel over that, vehicles travel over that and it puts dust into the air. As the road dries, the dust comes out even more.”

He also said the trucks are speeding through town. 

“It’s supposed to be 25 miles per hour and they’re going a lot faster,” DeLattre said. “These trucks are coming down and they’re heavily loaded. I guarantee you, these trucks are never going to be able to stop if a kid comes on the road. It’s extremely dangerous.”  

Mayor James McDonough II said speeding has been monitored in that area.

“From the beginning, we have asked for speeding enforcement on that end of town,” said the mayor. “There was a directive put down and you may say it’s a little too late. Living where you live and having to deal with what you’re dealing with is rough.”

Councilman Joseph Greco said police have indeed been in the area.

Some residents in attendance expressed the thought that the borough was too late in addressing the matter.

“Four years and we still have these complaints,” said resident Scott Nedrow. “We have people with coal dust in the filters of their swimming pools. We have grandchildren who don’t want to go out on the street without a parent right with them.”

The terminal has deployed a street sweeper, but the residents said it is ineffective. 

“It comes through town, the brushes never hit the ground,” DeLattre said. “All it does it stir up dust and throw it out the back side. It goes on our porches, our windows, our doors are siding, and we breathe it. People can’t enjoy sitting on their porches.”

Inquiries were made by folks Thursday as to why the borough’s street sweeper has not been utilized in the affected areas.

Mike Petroske, supervisor of the street department, said the borough’s street sweeper can not handle the task of cleaning the coal dust. 

“If we ran the street sweeper we have over that coal dust it would clog it,” he said. 

Signs have been placed in the borough by the residents that read, “Save Donora. Stop the Coal Trucks.”   

“We have to spend $500 to get signs up to get this kind of turnout to get you to listen to us,” Nedrow said. 

Suggestions were made to meet with officials at the terminal and from Robindale to try to rectify the situation. 

Councilman Don Pavelko said he would be willing to go with a group of citizens to have such a meeting.

“We wanted to come here to see what transpired,” Nedrow said. “I’d rather sit with the CEO and the owner of Robindale Energy who owns the Donora River terminal.”