Conclusion…
Again, this website provides a summary of research and documentation for information purposes only. It is meant to inform past and current residents of Middle Taylor Township and family, friends and former neighbors of the author about this condition. It is based on over thirty years of sound science, engineering and technological research. The purpose statement and goals are clearly state in the “General” section and this “Conclusion” portion of the web page.
The industry that was the life-blood and livelihood of family generations before my own created their monopolies and made their profits. They consumed our resources, destroyed our environment, and then just disappeared. Not only did they leave, they left quite a contaminated mess behind. This mess has taken the lives of many of my family, friends and neighbors. It will last for many future generations. Here is a good quote I found related to this during the course of my research:
“The Cambria Iron Company’s monster has literally eaten up one side of a hill; the ground on which it stands is all undermined, and the pith of another hill across the Conemaugh is gradually being drawn out by the miner’s pick…Johnstown itself is a dispiriting borough, shabby and dirty. Darkness and desolation are apt to spread where manufacture gets a foothold; but the factories themselves are greatly elemental enough to compensate.” (George Parsons Lathrop, Harpers New Monthly Magazine. August, 1883. From Berger, Karl. Johnstown, the Story of a Unique Valley. Johnstown Flood Museum, 1985. )
I believe that industrial wastes and coal refuse - and God knows what else - that were generated from operations at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Rosedale coke plant, and which were transported and dumped at the nearby Riders Dump (Rosedale) Disposal Area for decades and which is now identified as a US EPA designated hazardous waste site, contained harmful contaminants which over time polluted soils, surface waters, and the groundwater table in the Hinckston Run stream valley. The groundwater table below the Hinckston Run stream valley was a known source of public drinking water for the “rogue” community drinking water system used by residents of the Benshoff Hill/Valley View and Linkville Road sections of central and south Middle Taylor Township for decades. This was until the municipal public drinking water system was extended out of the City of Johnstown to serve these areas beginning in the late 1970’s.
I also believe contaminated drinking water that was consumed from the “rogue” community drinking water system, prior to the extension of the municipal public drinking water water out of the City of Johnstown, caused serious health and medical conditions to past and current residents of central and southern Middle Taylor Township and which such conditions included cancers, rare or unusual diseases or medical conditions, diabetes, and even in some cases led to the cause of death of many family, friends and neighbors in the generations before and up to and including my own. The effects of this to my own and future generations are yet to be seen.
Note: Dealing with this topic has hit me hard on several fronts. Since I first published this website, I have lost more members of my family, all of which lived or formerly lived on the hill, and which succumbed to cruel diseases which could be attributed to conditions and causes associated with my research and information. One, my Uncle on my Dad’s side, was lost due to a very harsh battle with pancreatic cancer. A second family member, a distant cousin, who grew up at the house/farm on Linkville Road that I mention so much about in this website, passed away of stomach cancer. The other, my Aunt on my Mom’s side, was lost due to complications associated with extended dealings with pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that makes it difficult for the lungs to work as designed. Individuals with the disease have scarring in their lung tissue and inflammation in the air sacs inside their lungs. Over time, individuals develop shortness of breath that can interfere with their quality of life. I have also heard of the plight of many more distant family members and friends/neighbors too. Cancers, diabetes, cancers and unusual diseases and medical conditions. Every time I hear such news from back home I just “cringe” with emotion, sorrow and helplessness.
I want to know if any public entities or officials knew of this contamination prior to or during their collective decision(s) to extend the municipal public drinking water system out of the City of Johnstown to serve the residents of Middle Taylor Township; and if so, were the citizens of Middle Taylor Township properly notified and informed of these reasons at the time it was done. Or were the citizens - our family, friends and neighbors - ignored or misled and are still unknowingly paying the price for it to this day.
Someone once said to me “What do you wish to get out of this”. Nothing. Nothing at all. I am not trying to be a martyr or do it for some sort of financial gain. What I would like though is for the research and information presented within this website to be used somehow to ultimately result in the ability to make people aware of the danger that did and still lurkes beneath the surface and to make it feasible to obtain grant funding to continue to further uncover the statistics on the amount/density of illness and death within the township and to further study the situation, collect data, perform more research and perhaps more comprehensive investigations, studies or remediation of the contaminates that exist in the soils, surface water and/or groundwater of our beloved home which is Middle Taylor Township. Thats my goal.
Thank You!
(Note: See the “Epilogue” section of this website for routine updates posted after the development and start-up of the website, ie. a work-in-progress report so to speak.)
Cartoon drawn by my son Joshua Zupon with minor edits by Scott Thomas
More about Brownfields
I just wanted to talk some more about the term “Brownfields” as this term was used occasionally within the website and may not be generally known to the reader. The term “Greenfields” may be more of a recognized term and is generally meant to represent lands which are undeveloped in city or rural areas and are used for agriculture or left to evolve naturally or can be considered for other urban type development. Some examples of Greenfield lands are un-fenced open fields, forested areas, urban lots or restricted closed properties. Greenfield sites offer a high degree of freedom for development as compared to sites with existing development on them.
I would be remiss from all of my education, experience and training to not state that the term “Greenfield” should not be confused with the term “Green Infrastructure”, which is sometimes called low impact development or better site design. Green infrastructure is a stormwater management term. The federal Clean Water Act defines green infrastructure as "the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters." Green infrastructure is a cost-effective, resilient approach to managing wet weather impacts that provides many community benefits by reducing and treating stormwater at it’s source. This is in contrast to gray stormwater infrastructure which is traditional way of collecting and transporting drainage by piping and channels with the intent to move urban stormwater away from the built environment as quick and as efficiently as possible.
Stormwater runoff is a major cause of nonpoint source water pollution in urbanized areas. This type of pollution affects surface water quality. When rain falls on our roofs, streets, and parking lots, the water cannot soak into the ground. Stormwater drains through gutters, storm sewers, and other engineered collection systems and is discharged into nearby water bodies. The stormwater runoff carries trash, nutrients, bacteria, heavy metals, and other nonpoint source pollutants from the urban landscape. Higher flows from heavy rains also can cause erosion and flooding in urban streams, damaging habitat, property, and infrastructure. When rain falls on natural, undeveloped areas, the water is absorbed and filtered by vegetation and soil. Stormwater runoff is cleaner and less of a problem. Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soils, and other elements and practices to mimic some of the natural processes required to manage water and create healthier urban environments. At the city or county scale, green infrastructure is a patchwork of natural areas that provides habitat, flood protection, cleaner air, and cleaner water. At the neighborhood or site scale, stormwater management systems that mimic nature soak up and store water.
Green infrastructure elements that can be woven into a site development, community or watershed include techniques such as conservation landscaping, downspout disconnection, dry swales, dry wells, green roofs, infiltration basins and trenches, land conservation, level spreaders, managed permeable pavements, planter boxes, rain barrels, rain gardens (bioretention), rainwater harvesting, stream stabilization, tree box filters, and urban tree canopy/forestry programs. For more about green infrastructure, visit the US EPA, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) green infrastructure, or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) Growing Greener websites.
In contrast, development in the form of redevelopment may happen on “Brownfield” or greyfield lands. Brownfields are lands which have been previously disturbed or developed and which have been left in an abandoned or underused state. Brownfields are generally categorized as under-utilized properties where the presence or potential presence of existing active or abandoned utilities, structures or hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants may interfere with the normal process of development, expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of the property.
In a December 2015 application by the City of Johnstown to the US EPA for a $400K community-wide assessment grant (Brownfields), it was stated on Page 6 that “Brownfields have unquestionably impacted Johnstown’s economy. Contamination has led to additional abandoned and blighted properties, a spiraling decrease in property values, lower property taxes and crippled tax base, a general disinvestment in the community, a further exodus of business and jobs, and increased municipal burden to maintain infrastructure. As time has marched on, community disinvestment in Johnstown has only intensified. In effect, much of the fiscal issues that led Johnstown into the Act 47 financial distressed status is directly or indirectly brownfield impacts.”
Use of such Brownfield sites are considered as adaptive or sustainable re-use (or redevelopment) of a site and are generally encouraged as a land use by federal, state and local government and economic development agencies. Financial incentives, such as grants or tax breaks, are available for qualifying Brownfield projects from many sources such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development, local municipal governments, economic development agencies, and/or private foundations. The US EPA offers a number of federal Brownfield grant opportunities on a periodic basis using competitive rating processes to assist communities with revitalization. Brownfield site cleanup, redevelopment, and reinvestment can aid to restore impacts and protect the environment and provide significant economic benefits to the community at large as well as reduce blight and takes development pressures off greenspaces and other lands.
Federal: For more about various US EPA Brownfield programs and successful projects visit:
https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
State: For more about Pennsylvania Brownfield Redevelopment programs and successful projects visit:
https://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Land/Redevelopment/Pages/default.aspx
Local: For more information from the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority and successful local projects around the City of Johnstown visit: