Construction Maison

The detention pond at the former ALCOA Inc. West Plant is complete, as the redevelopment continues. The Alcoa Board of Commissioners got a bird’s- eye view Monday of the new detention pond , which is located in the curve where Hall Road meets Alcoa Highway , thanks to a stationary webcam the city has trained on the construction site. Five photos taken over the course of one day — Wednesday, Aug. 16 — show how the detention pond area evolved as it was prepped for seeding, explained Andrew Sonner , assistant director/chief engineer for Alcoa’s Public Works and Engineering Department. The rectangular portion shown at the bottom of the photos is the “fore bay,” he told commissioners, which is where sediment settles before clean water continues over the berms and “meanders” toward the point of exit, where it will join Culton Creek . Commissioners learned at a briefing in July that an underground spring on the property could feed a water feature on the West Plant site ,...

One of the most watched recent murder cases in the Philadelphia area in years wound to a close on Wednesday with David "DJ" Creato, 23, admitting to killing his three-year-old son, Brendan, in October 2015. He pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the case after a 10-day trial on a first- degree murder charge ended in a hung jury and mistrial in May. THE LATEST:   DJ Creato admits he killed son Brendan , takes manslaughter plea deal Here's a day-by-day timeline of the significant events surrounding the case. TUESDAY, OCT. 13, 2015:   David “DJ” Creato reports his son,  Brendan, missing  around 6 a.m. He suggests the three-year-old may have opened the door and left the second-floor apartment they shared. A large community-wide search in Haddon Township ends three hours later when a K-9 located the boy’s lifeless body in Cooper River Park . A death scene investigator from the office of medical examiner   Dr. Gerald “Buck” Feigin  goes to the  scene and subseque...

The former BP station on East Post Road in White Plains. Photo by Bill Heltzel The White Plains Housing Authority has sued BP Products North America for allegedly contaminating water and soil at a former gas station near Winbrook Apartments . A toxic plume under the former BP station at 34 E. Post Road, the housing authority claims , has migrated toward an apartment building. The plume allegedly threatens the health of residents and potentially jeopardizes financing for a $350 million plan to replace five buildings. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 17 in federal court in White Plains. BP did not respond to a voicemail and an email request for comment. Winbrook is the city’s oldest public housing site , comprising five 90- unit structures built in the late 1940s. The apartments are in downtown White Plains on South Lexington Avenue , Fisher Court and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr . Boulevard. The gas station was next to Winbrook’s Building 33, home of about 350 residents. BP owned or o...