PITTSBURGH -- The Department of Environmental Protection suspended Kilbuck Properties LP’s permit for the River Pointe Plaza shopping center complex on Friday, halting all construction at the former Dixmont State Hospital site until the company clears a landslide that buried all four lanes on a section of Route 65 in Allegheny County.

The normally busy highway, known as Ohio River Boulevard, which leads to and from Pittsburgh, remains closed to traffic as crews continue to clear tree limbs, rocks and dirt that began falling from an abutting hillside Tuesday night. The landslide also affected three Norfolk Southern train tracks in Kilbuck Township.

"Every resource right now needs to be dedicated to clearing this material and reopening the highway and railway," DEP Southwest Regional Director Kenneth Bowman said. The Kilbuck Township development, which began early last year, includes several stores anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The department suspended the company's erosion and sedimentation control permit, which requires the implementation of best management practices to control stormwater runoff from the site during construction to protect local waterways.

The order requires the developer to submit an emergency erosion and sedimentation plan to DEP by Monday. The plan must address changing conditions at the site and provide protection for the local waterways.

The order also forbids the developer from conducting earth-moving at the site, other than that which is necessary to implement emergency measures to remove the landslide remnants and stabilize the affected area as part of the emergency control plan.

DEP issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which included a soil and erosion control plan to protect Toms Run, for the project in December 2004. The permit followed a public hearing held in October 2004. A blasting permit for the site was issued in October 2005.

For more information on water quality, visit: DEP Web site. Keyword: DEP Water Quality.