DURYEA, Pa. — Neighbors along McAlpine Street in Duryea woke up Monday Morning to see a pond filled with geese covering much of their backyards.
"It was up to the front of the shed and then like at an angle to here," said Jason Roche, Duryea.
Jason Roche says water started pooling toward the edge of his property around 6 months ago, the same time Newswatch 16 spoke with other neighbors when Copart, an online car auction service, cleared dozens of acres of wooded forest to make storage lots for used and damaged cars. "There was never water that laid here; it would go down, and within hours, it would be gone," he said.
With heavy rains this past weekend, neighbor Ralph Zambelli says the water built up so much that it overtook silt barriers and traveled almost 20 feet up his yard, "It's very stressful; we are trying to deal with it. It gets to a point where you know at least do what you're responsible for and at least take that stress away."
Both Zambelli and Roche say they've tried several times to warn CoPart about the possibility of flooding, but they say the problem was never fixed.
"The subcontractor had some guy in for like one day with a pump, and it did a little damage, but It's almost like if it rains, we are back to square one anymore," said Zambelli.
"You come to the terms of it's their property, but at least take care of your neighbor," said Roche.
As the water slowly drains out, Zambelli hopes something is done before more permanent damage is done.
"If we get a good amount of rain over a couple of days, it will be in my basement," added Zambelli.
Newswatch 16 did reach out to a CoPart representative about the drainage problem. We did not get a response.
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