Contractor bids anticipated on 3 million gallon cleanup at former Jeannette brewery

About 3 million gallons of water in the basement of the former Fort Pitt Brewery in West Jeannette is expected to be removed in the coming months.

Bids are due Wednesday from contractors who believe they can rid the dilapidated building of water and sludge, said Brian Lawrence, director of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority and Land Bank.

They have two options under the bid specifications — truck the water and sludge off site to a facility approved to accept it by the state Department of Environmental Protection, or treat it on site and dispose of it at a sewage treatment facility.

The water and sludge has been classified, after testing, as residual waste, which the DEP defines as nonhazardous industrial waste. There are more than 900 facilities in the state permitted to handle residual waste, according to the agency.

But after it is removed, another task awaits — figuring out how the water got there, likely stormwater runoff or an underground source, Lawrence said.

“We have to get the water out to figure out where it is coming from,” he said.

Enough water to fill at least four Olympic-size swimming pools has, in part, delayed efforts to tear down the former brewery.

The crumbling red-brick multibuilding complex along Penn Avenue and Clay Avenue Extension is slated for demolition in a project — estimated at $1 million or more — being funded through Westmoreland County’s federal American Rescue Plan allocation, part of which has been set aside for blight removal.

The property was purchased at judicial sale by the Westmoreland County Land Bank in August for $1,876.

The first phase of an environmental assessment, essentially a historical review of the property’s use, is being finalized, Lawrence said. He believes it’s likely there will be a second phase involving testing at the site.

“(The first phase) forms what you need to be testing for,” he said.

The county redevelopment authority’s board will select the winning bidder for the water and sludge removal. Lawrence said he hopes demolition can begin this fall.

The former brewery was owned by Frank Trigona’s Rufus Corp. since 2002. The Jeannette businessman died in 2015, leaving behind thousands in delinquent taxes.

During his ownership, the property caused headaches for city officials who tried to keep vagrants and troublemakers out, and it was the site of a suspicious fire in July 2017. The buildings are littered with debris, and a large section of a rear wall has collapsed. Parts of several roofs are missing, including on one building that is separated from homes only by an alley.

Nearby residents Larry and Susan Webb said they try to stay on their end of 11th Street, away from the brewery and other neighboring problem properties.

“It’s just way calmer down here,” Susan Webb said.

But they’re concerned about creatures that might be making the brewery their home and where those animals will go when demolition time comes.

The site previously was home to Victor Brewing Co., which organized in 1907. It was purchased in 1941 by Fort Pitt Brewing, according to news accounts. In the mid-1950s, Papercraft Corp. expanded its gift wrap manufacturing operations there before the plant went dormant in the mid-1970s. It was later purchased by Laurel Mould, which produced plastic food containers. The property was sold at sheriff’s sale and, eventually, purchased by Trigona’s Rufus Corp.