Home Care In Creighton, PA

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CREIGHTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- After more than a century in Creighton, Pittsburgh Glass Works, PWG is closing up shop. But as East Deer Township's largest employer leaves town, it's the environmental mess it's leaving behind that has residents most concerned.

Residents in the family-oriented town of East Deer are used to hearing trains, but they'd rather not get used to the smell.

Bill Stuckley is a concerned resident who lives near the Pittsburgh Glass Works plant in Creighton. He and his cousin Josh Stuckley say the smell in the air from the plant is causing a sickening odor.

"It smells like sulfur and is hard to take for any length of time," Bill said.

"You can only be out for a couple of minutes without feeling nauseous," Josh said.

According to concerned residents, the smell may be coming from an underground fire at the 135-year-old Pittsburgh Glass Works plant. It's been burning for months, but just days ago, blue flames emerged for the first time above ground. An employee of the plant took cell phone video of the flames inside the plant gates.

As lifelong residents of Creighton who live in the shadow of the plant, the Stuckleys and others say the sulfur smell is from coal by-products ablaze underground.

"And now it's ignited and it's all on fire, smoldering, burning, spreading," Bill said, "and we're concerned it's going to either come over here or we are going to have to breathe this in the rest of our lives."

Bill is having health problems that he says began when the fire began.

"Chronic sinusitis, asthma, chest colds, stuff like that," he said.

Joe Harris lives near the plant with his wife and young boys. He's concerned for his family and is in remission from cancer.

"I started getting better and start moving again, and then you find out about this and you're out back cooking or have people over and you get those tough smells, it makes it pretty tough," Harris said.

An employee who works at the plant that manufactures windshields for cars shared pictures with KDKA that he says show the floor inside the plant buckling from the heat of the underground fire.

Pittsburgh Glass Works set up a community website which acknowledged that the flames from the underground fire could be seen above ground, but they say there is not a threat nor environmental concerns for the community.

The mayor of East Deer tells KDKA-TV News he has reached out to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Environmental Protection as well as the Allegheny County Health Department for help and answers.

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CREIGHTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- As the snow was pounding down on Saturday morning, the rains of the previous day were rushing to the Allegheny River and dislodging ice.

The ice started moving until it got to the bend at Cheswick where it jammed.

"It was an ice jam that caused the river to back up, forced the water up these streams and overflowed," says East Deer Township Commission Chairman Anthony Taliani Jr.

It was 7:30 in the morning and Bill Stuckley Jr. was just leaving home to go hunting when he saw Bailey Run come rushing out of its banks.

"The creek was running up our street from the river and it was pouring in our door," he says.

In no time, the Stuckley's basement door was completely submerged. Bill Stuckley Sr. couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Steadily it got faster and faster and higher and higher," he said.

Bill Jr. says it keep rising until it was about "four feet! About four feet of water!" His dad adding, "Everything we had in the basement is gone, it's all ruined."

A friend was able to get the Stuckley's furnace working. Bill's sister, Donna, who lives next door, was not so fortunate.

"She's retired, not a very high income, and she lost her washer, her dryer, her hot water tank, her furnace. She has no heat in there right now," Taliani says.

The Stuckley's are just an example of a flash disaster that hit four streets in Creighton along Bailey Run and Crawford Run. House to house, the losses are similar.

Bill Stumpler has been helping his cousin whose basement was also swamped. She lost a washer, a dryer and a freezer to flooding. Stumpler says he was able to get the furnace working but wonders how long it will last.

Donna Stuckley is warily keeping her eye on her only source of heat, a few space heaters. She has one in the basement to keep the pipes from freezing overnight, and another upstairs to warm the room where she, her grandchildren, and the dogs will sleep tonight.

Her friends and relatives have turned out to help get everything that has been ruined out of the basement and dry it out. But they worry about the lack of heat so they've set up a GoFundMe account to replace her furnace and appliances: gofundme.com/bill-donna-stuckley-flood-victims

"We're trying to help anybody who has those needs," Taliani says.

East Deer Township is trying to total up the losses in hopes of getting a disaster declaration, which would bring financial help from the government. He's concerned the damage won't be wide spread enough to qualify.

"It's very frustrating that there's not a little bit of aid available for people that have worked their entire life, paid off their mortgage and then a disaster like this effects them, and it seems like there's no help for them," Taliani says. "I'm still hopeful that something will come through to help some of these people."

The makers of Iron City Beer are brewing on a large scale now in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

The Pittsburgh Brewing Co. is settling in at its state-of-the-art brewery in the Creighton neighborhood of East Deer. It’s more than 150,000 square feet. Brandon Mayes, director of brewing and quality, watched Thursday as 400 cans of beer per minute rolled through the automated production line.

“I brew the beer and make sure it’s the highest quality,” Mayes said.

400 cans of beer per minute happening now at Pittsburgh Brewing Company in East Deer. ?@VNDNews? ?@TribLIVE? pic.twitter.com/teCdVgCRSU

— Joyce Hanz (@hanz_joyce) September 8, 2022

Mayes brings more than 26 years of brewing experience to the iconic Pittsburgh Brewing Co., which was founded in 1861.

He relocated from Maine to Pittsburgh in 2021 and noticed the Steel City’s penchant for hops.

“I love Pittsburgh. They love their beer. It’s a wonderful, wonderful city,” Mayes said.

Iron City Beer is the top seller, and it takes about 21 days to produce a can of it, he said.

Other beers brewed on site include IC Light, Old German and American.

A limited-edition Pittsburgh Iron City Bill Cowher Lager is being produced, featuring a black-and-gold image of the Hall-of-Fame Steelers head coach on every can.

The 42-acre property, once home to Pittsburgh Plate Glass’ Works No. 1 glass factory, features state-of-the-art, high-tech brewing equipment along the Allegheny River. Brewing began there in late April and became fully operational in June.

Before April, the beer was brewed in Latrobe.

General Manager Todd Zwicker stood Thursday among gleaming stainless-steel brewing tanks — 25 in all — as he touted the highly automated facility.

“Everything was designed and made for this facility in Germany,” Zwicker said. “This is one of the most automated breweries on the East Coast.”

Workers are required only for loading raw materials and to monitor the machines, which can operate 24/7.

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. beers are sold in a dozen states, mostly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland.

“I jump out of bed every day,” said Zwicker on what it’s like to work at Pittsburgh Brewing Co.

Zwicker has 33-plus years working in the beer business.

The company, previously based out of Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, closed its plant there in 2008.

The former Pittsburgh Glass Works closed in 2018 and was purchased in 2019 by Cliff Forrest, owner of the Kittanning-based Rosebud Mining Co..

The brewery has bragging rights.

“For the city of Pittsburgh, this is the biggest production — with about 100,000 barrels a year,” Mayes said. “And I’m hoping we’re going to see a bit of a boost now that we’re open and operational.”

Cora Marchand of Bethel Park works as a quality assurance technician. She scoots around the large facility on a company-provided bike.

photos: Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. quality assurance technician Cora Marchand rides her bike from one area of the facility to another.

One of her jobs is to collect sterile IC Light beer samples from the line for testing.

“We test every beer before it goes to get packaged,” Marchand said.

Future plans

The brewery’s future plans, expected to be completed next year, include a public area that will include a store that sells specialty beers, a restaurant and an outside courtyard area. The company plans to host brewery tours.

“We’re going be bringing jobs to the local community, and it will eventually be a tourist attraction,” Mayes said.

Additionally, a rickhouse for rye and bourbon will house as many as 4,000 barrels later this year that will age for two to four years before they’re ready to be sold.

It will be called Iron City Distillery.

With automation provided by GEA, a German-based engineering company, the brewery can handle all operations with just 36 employees.

Some people might assume all Mayes does is drink beer for a living.

“That’s kind of true, but it’s a lot more than that. We’re yeast farmers, basically,” he said.

Mayes began as a home brewer but has a science background.

“It’s amazing. Seeing this from dirt floors (as the dormant glass plant) to stainless steel and automation — it’s pretty breathtaking,” Mayes said.

Zwicker would not reveal the exact amount of money spent on renovations but confirmed it was more than $50 million.

East Deer Commissioner Anthony Taliani praised the news of the brewery’s production status.

“We’re very excited, and we’re committed to helping them in any way we can,” Taliani said “They’re a real asset to the entire Alle-Kiski Valley.”

Taliani brushed off concerns that the large facility will employ fewer than 60 people.

“The brewery is state-of-the-art, and that’s the times,” Taliani said. “Right from the beginning, they told us, maybe, there would be a max of 60 employees.”

East Deer can expect to profit from the brewery because all of the water used for production is purchased from the township. Such revenue was lost when the glass plant ceased operations.

Last month, the brewery used about 1 million gallons of water, resulting in about a $12,000 water bill, Taliani said.

Joyce Hanz is a TribLive reporter covering the Alle-Kiski Valley. A native of Charleston, S.C., she graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at [email protected]

A former glass plant that was once the cornerstone of East Deer’s economy soon will be the new home of Iron City Beer, according to Pittsburgh Brewing Co.

The company plans to move its production to a new brewery on the site by next year.

Almost 200 people lost their jobs in 2018 when Pittsburgh Glass Works closed the plant at 150 Ferry St. in East Deer’s Creighton neighborhood.

Cliff Forrest, owner of the Kittanning-based Rosebud Mining Co., bought the shuttered plant in 2019. Forrest has owned Pittsburgh Brewing since 2018.

How much Forrest is investing in East Deer has not been disclosed, company spokeswoman Anna Angotti said.

“He is investing a decent amount in order to make this a really nice brewery, a really nice facility,” she said.

The maker of Pittsburgh’s iconic Iron City Beer had faced financial hardships under a string of owners for more than a decade. Its original brewery in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood closed in 2009 after 148 years.

Its beers have been brewed by a third party ever since — at a Latrobe facility owned by Wisconsin-based City Brewing Co.

Moving operations back to a facility owned and operated by Pittsburgh Brewing is a major step in rebuilding the brand, company spokesman Ben Butler said.

“From a brewing perspective, you definitely want it all under one roof if you can,” he said.

Angotti said there should not be any interruption in production in the move from Latrobe to East Deer.

The new brewery will be capable of producing 150,000 barrels a year when it opens in 2022, according to Butler. That’s about 50% more than currently is produced at the Latrobe facility.

The new site has room for dramatic expansion, up to 750,000 barrels a year, according to the company.

At its height, the historic company once produced more than a million barrels a year.

The company’s flagship beers — Iron City, IC Light, Mango IC Light, Old German Premium Lager, American and American Light, and Block House Brewing Summer Break — now all made in Latrobe will be produced at the new facility, Angotti said.

IC Light is the company’s biggest brand.

“There’s an opportunity for doing some brand innovation as well,” Angotti said. “We haven’t finalized or discussed anything specific at this time.”

Most of Pittsburgh Brewing’s sales are in Western Pennsylvania, although Angotti said it does have some sales in other states. It will be looking to broaden its distribution in addition to increasing production volume but has no specific plans yet.

“Our main goal right now is getting the facility up and running and producing the beer,” she said.

Butler said it’s too early to tell how many jobs will be created by the new operation.

The company’s corporate offices will remain in Lawrenceville, and plans are in the works to build a taproom on the site of the original brewery.

East Deer Commissioners Chairman Tony Taliani said township leaders will meet with Pittsburgh Brewing officials soon.

“We’re very happy to hear this,” he said. “The individual that owns that company is a real outstanding type of guy, and he’s done great things in his community. We’re happy to have him moving into East Deer Township. It fills a void, because we really took it on the chin when that glass plant moved out.”

When it closed in 2018, the Pittsburgh Glass Works’ Creighton plant was 135 years old, the oldest in the country. It originally was owned by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., now PPG Industries.

After the plant closed, the site presented significant problems for its new owner — particularly an underground coal fire that had been burning since 2017.

At least 85% of the fire has burned out, said Lauren Fraley, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“The fire is contained, continues to wane and is expected to slowly burn out on its own. The area that currently has a fire beneath the ground is limited to a small section of the gravel area east of the buildings on the site,” she said.

Angotti said all buildings that had been affected by the fire have been torn down.

“The small area that remains burning may be excavated and extinguished if future construction activities at the site dictate,” Fraley said. “The property owner would need to coordinate with DEP if they have plans to extinguish the remaining fire.”

Despite these obstacles, the former glass plant was a good fit for a new facility, Butler said.

“To find a facility of this size in Allegheny County is near impossible,” he said. “It’s hard to find a space that checks the boxes like this one did.”

More than a brewery?

It eventually could be more than a brewery.

The company has plans to open an adjoining restaurant, outdoor event venue, beer museum and marina. With 40 acres available, there is room for growth, although these additions are likely several years down the road, according to Butler.

“We could create something really cool here that can be an attraction that people will come from all over to see,” he said.

Taliani said he believes this will be a major step in the right direction for the region.

“I’m certain that the addition of (Pittsburgh Brewing Co.) and whatever other plans they have in mind will bring that property back, and be an asset to the Allegheny Valley and East Deer Township,” he said.

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Categories: Local | Local stories | Top Stories | Valley News Dispatch

CREIGHTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- A landslide has blocked a lane on Freeport Road.

#BREAKING: Landslide on Freeport Rd in Creighton has on lane blocked. @IannottiRalph live at 6pm with an update. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/vXxKhdgzV8

— Ian Smith (@ismithKDKA) May 30, 2019

The landslide caused a large tree to fall into a section of the roadway near New Kensington Bridge, bringing down wires and a utility pole.

Slow going on Freeport Road in Creighton when tree falls onto roadway , bringing down wires and utility pole. Stop and go traffic restricted to single lane. pic.twitter.com/VqJqN16uij

— Ralph Iannotti (@IannottiRalph) May 30, 2019

The tree fell Thursday afternoon and was initially blocking both lanes of traffic on the roadway. The tree has since been removed. However, the utility pole is still dangling over the southbound lane.

Wires and debris from the tree could also be seen on the ground.

The roadway has been restricted to a single lane, but traffic is moving at a stop-and-go pace in both directions.

Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.