PITTSBURGH — A convenience store and gas station heavily damaged by a landslide nearly three years ago is now being threatened by yet another landslide in the same area.
Just a couple of weeks ago, 11 Investigates told you about another landslide closing in on a home in Ross Township, and PennDOT refuses to help.
>> Woman buys land from PennDOT to build house, then finds out previous owner sold it due to landslide
A local business owner who saw that story reached out to Chief Investigator Rick Earle and said he was facing a very similar situation.
Bob Spehar showed Earle the hillside that’s been moving again.
“Wow, I didn’t see that rock, look at them, they are boulders, these are boulders,” said Spehar, who took us behind his convenience store in Spring Garden to show us the dirt and trees that has already pushed up against the back of his building.
Spehar has owned the convenience store for nearly 50 years.
Even he was surprised by the amount of debris that had already come down.
“I was shocked when I saw this. I didn’t expect to see this,” said Spehar.
Spehar knew the hillside, owned by the city of Pittsburgh, was moving again, but he didn’t know it was this bad.
Spehar and Earle saw huge tree trunks and dirt piling up against his store.
“One more heavy rain or a freeze thaw we will be back where we started from,” said Spehar, who’s worried that his store may be damaged again.
The first landslide happened back in May of 2022, when the hillside gave way and came crashing into the kitchen area of Spehar’s convenience store.
“My wife was in the kitchen. She just walked out and boom the building came down,” said Spehar.
During heavy rain, trees and mud came crashing down on the store and took out the concrete block wall.
It destroyed equipment and supplies inside the building.
“That’s where we kept all our supplies. It was four foot of mud back there,” said Spehar.
Spehar, a retired Pittsburgh police officer, says the city came in and removed the trees and dirt, but wouldnt’ cover any of the damages to his business.
Using his own money, more than $100,000 Spehar rebuilt and reopened in three months, but today, more than two years later, the land is moving again.
Spehar said after the first landslide, he was told the hillside was good to go.
“The hillsides is stable according to the engineer. That’s what they said,” said Spehar, who’s worried it may destroy his business again.
Spehar told Earle that he’s reached out to the city multiple times, and he said he hadn’t got any response.
“I quit trying. I sent copies to the mayor to this guy and that guy and they ignore you,” said Spehar.
Ironically, Mayor Ed Gainey, in his budget address last week, promised a new aggressive approach to dealing with landslides.
“We are creating a concrete hazardous mitigation plan that guides our investments so our neighborhoods and our city are ready for whatever mother nature throws our way,” said Gainey, during his budget address.
Spehar said he doesn’t know why the city didn’t fix the slide the last time, but now he just wants the city to fix the problem and stabilize the hillside once and for all.
“Just clean my property up, put whatever kind of wall up. That’s all we are trying to do, just trying to make a living,” said Spehar.
Spehar said insurance would not cover any of the damages to his store, and the city wouldn’t either.
Earle reached out to councilman Bobby Wilson, who represents Spring Garden, and he immediately got a city inspector to visit the site.
11 Investigates is now waiting to see how the city plans to proceed with this new landslide.
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