Road Project Kicks Up Dust Storm in Greenawalds Section

South Whitehall kicked up a dust storm -- quite literally -- when it hired a contractor to resurface roads in the Greenawalds section of the township.

A group of residents who turned out at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday night complained that the dust stirred up by the roadwork choked the neighborhood over two weeks in early October, coating cars and porch furniture with greasy matter and dust, and forcing residents to keep windows closed and children indoors. 

"It was impossible to be outside for any activity," said Ron Cardinal, of 2232 Albright Ave., adding that the residents should never have been exposed to that dust for such an extensive period.

He said the inch-thick dust posed health problems for residents, particularly older residents and the very young and those with asthma.

Another resident called it "a man-made mess."

South Whitehall officials said they had contracted with Dosch King Co. of New Jersey to resurface several roads in the Greenawalds section of South Whitehall, including the heavily travelled Albright Avenue. The chip seal process they were contracted to do involves applying oil, laying chip and rolling it, said Public Works Director Tony Ganguzza. At the end of the process, sweeping is done to remove surplus rock from the surface.

Motorists travelling Albright Avenue and the other roads, sometimes over the speed limit, while the work was under way exacerbated the dust problem, Ganguzza said. 

Like other residents who turned out, Cardinal said he had come to the meeting to let the commissioners know about the problems the neighborhood faced during the roadwork -- and the problems that remain in trying to clean up properties. He said items have to be scrubed to get them clean, and he feared the gray matter would also clog the filtration system on his pool, though he won't know for certain until next summer.

Cardinal, representing his neighbors, had questions for the commissioners too, mainly: Who was going to clean up the neighborhood?

Residents' complaints fell on sympathetic ears.

Commissioner Dale Daubert, irate over the situation, told his fellow commissioners that the residents were not exaggerating. He said he had gone to the neighborhood and saw for himself the layer of dust on cars. He said the township needs a different system for resurfacing roads.

"We're supposed to be serving people," he said. As long as he has a voice in township matters, he said, "I'm going to make sure that never happens again."

"We sympathize," Township Manager Jon Hammer told residents.

While the chip seal process has been used for a number of years, Hammer said it is more appropriate in more rural areas, not higher density residential areas. Ganguzza, who joined the township as public works director  the road work began, said the township will not be using that process again in a residential area, given the problems.

"We did learn from this," Board President Brad Osborne said.

Osborne told the residents that he can't promise restitution for cleanup efforts, but that the township would pursue that with the contractor.