Cold snap stresses waterlines, authority workers in New Kensington

Water authority crews in New Kensington are among those run ragged this month fixing leaks and breaks caused by the region’s severe cold snap.

Though the recent sub-zero weather caused a lot of waterline breaks, it wasn’t quite as bad as some social media posts make it out to be.

The “bad period” started around the week of Jan. 12, said James Matta, manager of the Municipal Authority of the City of New Kensington, which maintains and operates the water supply system serving the city along with Arnold, Lower Burrell, Upper Burrell, Allegheny Township, Washington Township and parts of Plum and Murrysville.

“We’ve been doing our best to repair the large number of leaks that we’ve been having,” Matta said.

Shortly before noon Wednesday, Matta said it had been a good day because there had been only one break.

“This is the first day that we’ve only had one,” he said. “I’m hoping and I’m optimistic things are going to ease up with the temperatures easing up.”

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County asked its customers to conserve water because of leaks and breaks. It had seen a nearly 44% increase in leaks over the last two weeks compared to the same time period a year ago, with crews making 184 repairs from Jan. 12 to 27.

Over a 10-day period, from Jan. 19 to Wednesday, the New Kensington authority had 27 breaks, from minor to severe, which Matta said was about 50% higher than normal. They were caused by ground movement brought about by the freeze-thaw cycle, he said.

Further complicating matters for New Kensington was that, on Jan. 19, the authority’s distribution superintendent, Ed Saliba, resigned for unspecified personal reasons, Matta said. Saliba has worked for the authority for 34 years.

Saliba, New Kensington’s fire chief, is out of town on fire service-related business and could not immediately be reached for comment.

In his absence, Ron Balla, the assistant distribution superintendent, is in charge of overseeing the authority’s nine union employees, Matta said.

Balla “did work a large number of hours,” Matta said.

Details on the exact number of hours the crew have worked and the overtime costs incurred by the authority were not immediately available.

The authority’s board met privately with Saliba and Matta on Monday and, on Tuesday, Saliba agreed to return to work, according to Matta. He said Saliba is expected to report to work Saturday morning.

No offer was made or given to entice Saliba to return, Matta said. His 2025 salary is unchanged at $127,194.