Moon Township homeowners demand answers as they watch property fall away due to landslide
MOON, Pa. (KDKA) — The cleanup continues on Beaver Grade Road in Moon Township after a landslide, but there are still no answers for the homeowners who are watching their property fall away.
Now, lawyers are getting involved for some as they figure out what is next.
The big question is who is responsible. PennDOT has the road down below, the homeowner's association owns the hill and the property owners have their homes. Based on similar cases from the past, who is responsible can take years to find out.
A drone video from SkyEye 2 shows the devastating slide behind homes on Stags Leap Lane in the Sonoma Ridge housing plan in Moon Township. Cleanup continued on Thursday on Beaver Grade Road as it remains closed in both directions.
"The problem is catastrophic," attorney Michael Santicola said.
Two homeowners have been encouraged to evacuate. At one home, there was no answer on Thursday, while the other homeowner was still there.
"They feel hopeless because there has been no communication. That's the real problem," Santicola said Wednesday evening.
In 2018, a landslide forced three homes to be torn down in North Strabane Township, Washington County.
One of the attorneys involved in some of the lawsuits for that situation, Ryan Cooney, said years of court battles could follow. In that case, and he predicts in the Moon Township case, it will be tough for anyone to willingly accept responsibility.
"And that's because the fix is going to be costly," Cooney said.
KDKA-TV reached out to the developer, Meritage, whose number and website no longer work. KDKA-TV followed up with the builder, Heartland Homes — part of the NVR Incorporated. It offered no comment over the phone on Thursday.
"I don't think that we can talk about right now whose responsibility it was to fix the problem and where the slide originated from. Maybe they're all responsible for it. That's what we're going to have to look at," Santicola said.
The township said it's continuing to work with the homeowners, the HOA and PennDOT to figure out the situation and determine what's next. KDKA-TV asked if there were inspections done before the development but has not heard back.
Township leaders said in a meeting on Wednesday night that the slide is still ongoing.