Federal Aid Sought For Pittsburgh Landslide ProblemsCasey, Specter, Doyle Send Letter To FEMAPOSTED: 2:49 pm EDT May 19,
2008 PITTSBURGH -- A bipartisan plea was made Tuesday for federal assistance to deal with the threat of landslides in several Pittsburgh neighborhoods.Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has said he wants money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to buy about 47 homes that have been identified as at risk, or to help the homeowners mitigate the problems.U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle sent a letter to FEMA Administrator David Paulison, asking his agency to investigate the situation and offer assistance to fix it.An 18-month study by architecture consulting firm Perkins Eastman in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University found that generations of developers have built houses on some of the most unstable land throughout the city.The city estimates it would cost at least $7.4 million to fix 24 of the landslides involving public land. There are no estimates for the remaining 22 or for landslides on private land. Previous Stories:
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