5th lawsuit claims Mammoth Park's Giant Slide is unsafe

A fifth lawsuit claims the rebuilt Giant Slide in Mt. Pleasant Township’s Mammoth Park is unsafe.

The attraction at the 408-acre park owned by Westmoreland County includes two 100-foot steel racing slides along with a smaller 50-foot slide for children. The current $1.1 million configuration, which opened in July 2020 and closed a month later for safety improvements and additional signage before reopening in June 2021, replaced a single 96-foot slide that had been at the park since 1973.

The latest case was filed by Deanna Betras, who says she was injured on the slide on Sept. 3, 2021. According to court documents, Betras claims she was forcibly pinned on her back as she rode the slide and was “violently thrown about.”

Betras, whose age and hometown were not disclosed in the legal filing, claims she sustained back and shoulder injuries, bruises, contusions as well as nervousness, emotional tension, anxiety and depression as a result of the incident and said she has undergone extensive pain management treatment and may require surgery for her injuries.

Her lawsuit is the latest filed against the county following the opening of the Giant Slide complex in 2020. Her case, though, is different from the four previous lawsuits filed by people who claimed they were hurt after the slide first reopened in July 2020. Betras claims she was injured after the county instituted the safety upgrades and reopened the attraction in June 2021.

Four other women have filed lawsuits pending against the county, claiming they were injured on the Giant Slide, including:

• An Allegheny County woman who claimed she was hurt in August 2020;

• A second woman from Allegheny County who filed a similar lawsuit a month later;

• A Fayette County woman who filed suit in November 2021;

• A woman from near Buffalo, N.Y., who filed a lawsuit in April, claiming she was hurt.

The county shut down the slide in August 2020 after it received several complaints about potential injuries sustained by riders. Although officials initially blamed the injuries on people who did not properly follow safety guidelines, the slides remained closed for the next 10 months as additional safety measures — including netting — were installed and refined instructions about how to use the slide were posted in June 2021.

In her 11-count lawsuit, Betras names the county and the slide’s designers, marketing company, architect and inspectors as defendants. She is seeking unspecificd damages.

Betras’ lawyer, Richard Talarico of Pittsburgh, represents defendants in two of the other cases. He did not return a call seeking comment.

Westmoreland County solicitor Melissa Guiddy declined to comment.

County officials said Monday the slide remains open throughout the year.