LOGAN TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- All of the businesses at the Logan Town Centre are open after power was cut this week.
A massive and growing crack was responsible for the temporary outage.
Crews are working now to make repairs.
Officials said removal of the landslide is step one of stabilizing the hillside behind Logan Town Centre. The property owners, the Kroenke Group, said in a statement: "Engineers are meeting on site today to evaluate the changes to the slope and develop a permanent solution to the earth movement issues.
" Due to the fluid nature of the situation, we do not yet have a timeline for that solution."
6 News spoke with a Penn State geology assistant professor, who said land removal isn't the only step that will need to be taken to solve this problem.
"Often times there are two approaches to stabilizing hill slopes like this. One would be to add structural support to the hillside by drilling in rebar or reinforcing pins or support into the hill side itself. Another common practice is to control how water is moving through the subsurface to divert it away from these clay-rich planes," said Roman DiBiase, assistant professor of geology.
DiBiase said wet weather can worsen the problem.
"There is oftentimes a direct connection between prolonged rainfall and the movement along these sorts of landslides," he said.
DiBiase said these types of landslides are not common in our region; when they do happen, it is often a man-made problem.
"There is a pretty direction connection of places where you have landslides and where you undercut or over steepen hill slopes," DiBiase said.
The Kroenke Group's full statement:
"In mid-April, representatives of Logan Town Centre received a report of a visible fault on the slope behind the shopping center.
Investigation commenced immediately, and engineering consultants and other professionals mobilized to the site within the week. Preliminary engineering design began and temporary measures were put in place.
During the design period, the conditions of the slope continued to change. Upon learning of these changes, Logan Town Centre instituted additional temporary measures to ensure the continued safety of all tenants, employees, occupants, and guests of the shopping center.
Civil and geotechnical engineers are meeting on site today to evaluate the changes to the slope and develop a permanent solution to the earth movement issues.
Due to the fluid nature of the situation, we do not yet have a timeline for that solution.
Logan Town Centre continues to work with its consultants, Penelec, and Logan Township authorities to resolve this matter in the most timely and effective manner possible, while keeping the safety of all parties as its number one priority."
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