The company is called Buckman Enterprises LLC and, according to the application it filed with the township, it currently manufactures pool chemicals and stores ski equipment.

According to the company website, Buckman’s Inc. is “one of the largest ice melt suppliers and ice melt distributors on the East Coast, shipping to over 38 U.S. states and Canada.” The site also notes: “We are a top supplier and distributor of ice melt products such as bagged and bulk rock salt, magnesium chloride (flake and pellets), as well as calcium chloride (flake and pellets).”

Additionally, Buckman’s is “a top supplier and distributor of water treatment chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite, hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid), soda ash, sodium thiosulfate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, diatomaceous earth (DE), hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda)….”

According to the application filed on April 11, the company is seeking a special exception to allow for “bulk storage of hazardous chemicals or substances.”

The company “currently operates a hypochlorite processing plant on the property. To increase production and storage capacity and improve efficiency,” the company seeks to construct “a second 54,400-square-foot hypochlorite manufacturing plant, a 30,000-square-foot storage area and a 10,000-square-foot building for the storage of salt.”

Hypochlorite is a chemical name for bleach and bleach-related substances.

The application also notes that “the proposed use involves the bulk storage or bulk manufacturing of highly hazardous chemicals,” adding it will comply with all of the requirements of the zoning ordinance. The 72-acre site at 105 Airport Road where this is proposed to be built is in Limerick’s “office/limited industrial” zone.

The zoning hearing on the project was held on May 22 and the next zoning board meeting is scheduled for June 26 at 6:30 p.m.

This proposal is concerning some of the 82 residents of the area officially notified about the proposal due to their proximity, and they have brought their concerns to both the Limerick Township Supervisors and to the Spring-Ford Area School Board.

At the May 28 school board meeting, Bayberry Drive resident Debbie Cancro said “I wanted to let the board know of the community’s concerns and that Limerick Township, we feel, is not protecting the children or the residents from potential harm.”

Beth Studt, also a resident of Bayberry Drive, told the school board that at the May 22 zoning hearing “there were no experts, no EPA, no studies presented about how this could affect our kids.”

Ted Studt said “as someone being trained in public health, I’m really concerned about information available to the public and accessibility, and the way this is currently being processed by Buckman’s LLC and the zoning board, it is not accessible to the public, to residents or to parents.”

School Board President Erica Hermans said “this is the first time that I am hearing about it and yeah, personally I do find it concerning. It wouldn’t be the first time that Limerick Township has gone forward with something — we have a vape shop next to our high school.”

Some of the same residents addressed those same concerns to the Limerick Township Supervisors at the June 4 meeting, and were told the matter currently rests with the zoning board, which is independent of the supervisors. Township officials said they would get the residents the information they need.

The supervisors do not get involved in such issues until the land development process, when the site plan has been reviewed by the planning commission but after the question of use has already been decided by the zoning board.

The may decision may be announced soon.

David Allebach, attorney for Buckman’s, replied to a query from MediaNews Group by writing, “the application for a special exception was heard by the zoning hearing board on May 22, the record was closed, and a decision is expected on June 26. Although several residents expressed some concern about the operation, no one actually entered their appearance and provided evidence that the proposal did not meet the standards for the granting of the special exception. There is already a manufacturing plant on the property which received prior approval by the zoning hearing board based on the same criteria being considered for the current application. The current plant has been operating since approximately 2010 without any incidents or violations.”

At least that’s what Jennifer Isett and Nicole Matz decided to do.

Part retail store, part artisan showcase, part community booster and part classroom, The Collective is located at 10 S. Hanover St. — and had the very good sense to hold its May 11 grand opening on the same Saturday as Gazzos Steaks, four doors down.

Which means they got a lot of exposure on their day, given that the cheesesteak line went right past their front window.

People in line outside Gazzos got a good look inside The Collective, and many wandered in to get a closer look.

Matz told MediaNews Group that she and Isett co-own two other buildings in town, but not the one their store is occupying.

“We have shared interests and we’re both very bullish on Pottstown, so we decided this is the right time to make the leap,” Matz said.

The store focuses on art objects and, from a retail standpoint, “our philosophy is on any given day, you can find everything from something under $10 to $2,000,” said Matz.

Speaking of philosophy, Matz and Isett organized their business on “four pillars.”

The first is, the shop features almost exclusively local artisans and makers, like muralist Carrie Kingsbury and artists from ArtFusion 19564 to name a few, said Matz.

The second pillar is, not surprisingly, the retail aspect of the business, featuring fair trade and eco-friendly goods.

The third is community, by which Matz said, she means selling items for nonprofits in the community, at no profit. For example, if you’re looking for a place to buy the groovy merchandise being sold to support this year’s Pottstown GoFourth! festival and fireworks, The Collective is where you’ll find it.

The fourth pillar is being creative; think bonsai, art, music lessons or talks by authors.

“We try to be really thoughtful about that aspect, so we’re not stepping on another businesses toes. We’re about offering things that are complementary to what is already here, not competing,” said Matz.

“We want to help make Pottstown the place to be — and with things like the renovation of the (former) Lastick (Furniture) building, we’re really hopeful about the downtown,” Matz said.

The store is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

For more on The Collective visit Facebook and Instagram.

And that loyalty paid off this week when Trumbetas and Barbara, his wife of 60 years, marked his first century of life Tuesday with a celebration at the Southeastern Veterans Center with a visit from the Phillie Phanatic; retired Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini from the 1993 National League championship team; Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy, Phillies Ballgirls and Bob McCormick, representing Toyota and the Tri-State Toyota Dealers Association.

In addition, Morandini presented Trumbetas with a game ball that he will personally deliver to the mound at Citizens Bank Park on May 18 when the Phillies play the Washington Nationals and conduct the team’s annual Salute to Service.

“He is the biggest Phillies fan in the world,” said Trumbetas’ daughter, Denise Selzer. “We just had better cable put in for him so he can watch every game with a better picture. He is over the moon about this.”

Trumbetas was born in the coal regions in Simpson, Lackawanna County, and grew up in Carbondale. The oldest child, after his father’s death he was working as a coal miner and supporting his family when he was drafted in 1943, said Selzer. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946 as an Ariel Engineer with the rank of Private First Class.

Trumbetas served in the European theater, first in Italy and then the south of France and won three Bronze Stars for transporting wounded soldiers to medical stations. While in Rome, he met Pope Pius who gave him a personal blessing and told him he would not die in the war. Later in the war, a number of his comrades with whom he was usually assigned were killed in a plane crash.

“He won’t talk about that too much,” said Selzer.

Upon his return from the war, Trumbetas, who has five children, settled down in Delaware County working as a welder for the Penn Panel and Box Co. in Collingdale. He and Barbara raised their children in Sharon Hill and he and his wife lived with his son until last August, when they both moved into the Southeast Veterans Center where they are roommates, Selzer said.

According to The National WWII Museum, in 2023 there were still 9,675 World War II veterans living in Pennsylvania, the third most of all states and, of those, 104 of them live in Pennsylvania veterans homes, said Travis Davis, executive director at Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, who was at Tuesday’s celebration wearing a Chase Utley jersey. There are 29 World War II veterans living at the Southeast Veterans Center, he said.

“The Phillies organization really pulled out all the stops for Paul’s birthday,” said Davis.

Brig. Gen. Terrence L. Koudelka Jr., director, Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Pennsylvania National Guard, who said he is “truly honored to be part of this celebration,” told Trumbetas that “it’s because of airmen like you that I stand here in the service of my country.”

McCarthy told Trumbetas that “our nation’s survival is due to brave men like yourself.”

Brig. Gen. (Ret) Maureen Weigl, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs deputy adjutant general, also spoke and thanked Trumbetas for his service.

Trumbetas himself called the celebration “wonderful” and his slice of cake to be “excellent” as he headed over to the ice cream station to top it all off.

The resident of the Huffs Church region of Berks County has connections to the Cheyenne, Lakota and Cherokee tribes. “But I also have Russian, Hungarian and Irish blood in me, so basically, I’m an American,” he said Saturday while taking a rest from the “Grand Opening” ceremony of the PowWow on the Mantawny, held in Pottstown for the 11th year.

And, as always, White Bull, his long flowing white hair making him hard to miss, was there performing, even in the persistent drizzle which marked the day at Riverfront Park.

For him, dancing is a way “to be in touch with my creator, to pray to my creator and to thank my creator for everything,” he explained simply.

Growing up, dancer Jonathen Eaca said “at a younger age, our generation was not allowed to dance, it was forbidden. So now that we’re able to, I want to grow and to progress to even better represent our traditions.”

He was in Pottstown wearing the colorful regalia of the southern Ute tribe of Colorado. “But I live by the ocean in Brigantine (N.J.). I love living near the ocean.”

Val Korbin was at the PowWow to demonstrate and to sell the hardwood Native American flutes he has been creating for 20 years.

It all started “when I was young. I wanted a flute, I liked how they sound, but I couldn’t afford one. So I taught myself to make them,” Korbin said..

Most of his flutes “are made from hardwoods. It’s harder to work with, but the sound is clearer,” he said. “I use a lot of fruit woods, from fruit trees, they make the sweetest sounds,” he said with a wry smile.

All Native American flutes have the mouthpiece at the top, he explained. Flutes held off the side, known as “transverse” flutes, “that’s a colonial thing,” Korbin explained.

Star Mother, who goes by Pat Harbach when she is not at a PowWow, wove Native American tales for the audience, like how Turtle Mother gave her live to dive to the bottom of the ocean and bring up the mud that would become the land on which we live; how a rattlesnake convinced a boy on a vision quest to carry him to the top of a mountain and how to give bear hugs.

Her turtle story may have been the inspiration for the name of the non-profit group, Reflections of Turtle Island, which oversees the organizing of the PowWow, among other things.

At one point Harbach walked along the perimeter of the dance circle handing out coupons for bear hugs, which she demonstrated. Emcee Barry Lee was quick to add the disclaimer that it’s best not to try to use the coupon with a real black or grizzly bear, lest the bear become too enthusiastic.

Joachim Werebber came from Colorado with his girlfriend Dastyn Loyd in order to perform what is known as the “Grass Dance.”

As Lee explained, for the plains Native Americans, living in the grass lands means some pretty tall grass. “It can be up to your knees, or up to your hips” so before a PowWow or other kind of gathering, a “Grass Dance” would be performed for the very practical purpose of tamping down the grass “so everyone could see each other,” he said.

The green strands on Werebber’s regalia represents the handfulls of grass the Grass Dancers would snatch up during their performance attach to themselves.

Matt and Chris Clair hail from the Pocono town of Weatherly and have been dancers for many years.

“I don’t know how many times we’ve done this, but people kept coming to us, asking how we do this, or how we do that,” said Chris Clair with a laugh. “Now here we are again.”

Ron Williams, who helped to found the PowWow with Harbach, Lee and a few others, told the damp-but-enthusiastic crowd that the location where Manatawny Creek and the Schuylkill River come together “is an idea place to fish.”

He said “there was no settlement we know of in this area,” but it seems likely that such a sweet fishing spot would be a good place for a gathering.

Harbach told the crowd that a PowWow “is not a religious gathering. That is done in private.”

This particular gathering, the 11th to take place in Pottstown, took special trouble to show respect for veterans, which Williams and many Native Americans are; Williams spent 24 years between his time in the Army and the Navy.

Just before the “grand entrance,” Army veteran Johnny Three Eagles led a small process of veterans and Pottstown Police officers around the circle. The year’s Head Veteran is an Air Force veteran named Seeker, but he is confined to a wheelchair and so Three Eagles took upon some of the responsibilities as his assistant.

After the “Grand Entrance” the circle filled with traditional dancers and then all veterans were invited to join in and then Lee asked all those present to also honor all emergency service workers, EMTs, firefighters and the medical profession for all it did to help keep people alive during the pandemic.

Different dances then got underway, accompanied by the host “drum,” Medicine Horse Singers, and the guest drums, Grey Cloud Singers, Itchy Dog Singers and Stoney’s Boys.

Thw two-day affair concluded Sunday, with the same hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Price put The Hill School boys’ lacrosse program on the map during his two tenures as head coach over 27 seasons. His Blues teams reached the Pennsylvania championship game on three occasions, winning the championship in 1986 after finals appearances in 1973 and 1984.

Price was an All-American player at Swarthmore College in 1960 before graduating and finding his way to The Hill School.

During his two stints leading the Blues, Price was twice named Pennsylvania Coach of the Year and his teams played in three state finals, reached the semifinals on four other occasions (1975, 1985, 1989, 1995), and the quarterfinals three times (1987, 1990, 1994).

Price’s tournament runs were at a time when it was a true Pennsylvania championship with public and private programs combined.

He spent two years as head coach at Lehigh University (1979-80) before coming home to The Hill for his second storied run.

Price’s commitment to teaching the game continued even after retirement from The Hill School. Price was the inaugural coach of the Pottsgrove boys team from 2002-06.

Price coached 11 High School All-Americans and 11 who would become College All-Americans.

Accolades for his coaching service include induction to the Tri-County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1999; a Summit Award in 2006; and induction into the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2007. Additionally, Price was an inaugural inductee into The Hill’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012, one of 17 to be selected to its Founders Hall.

Price was a dedicated mainstay at the prestigious boarding school from 1965 to 2000. He served as a mathematics instructor, football and lacrosse coach, dorm parent, director of college advising, director of admission, director of development, dean of faculty, assistant headmaster, and associate headmaster.

Price’s commitment to education was known outside the walls of Hill as well. He served as host of the Lehigh Valley educational quiz show “Scholastic Scrimmage,” which was televised from 1973 until 1995, when he was appointed associate headmaster.

His daughter Bronwyn joked that stint on the program “made him almost famous. We would be out for dinner in Bethlehem and people were always recognizing him and coming up to talk to him.”

In celebration of The Hill’s 150th anniversary and recognition of the Prices’ retirement, the first floor of Wendell Dormitory was named Price Hall. The Prices served as dorm parents in Wendell from 1967 to 1970 and before that lived in Upper School from 1965 to 1967.

In 1999, before his final season as head coach of varsity boys’ lacrosse, an endowment of the head coaching position was established in Harry Price’s honor.

Price’s legacy will live on through the field named in his honor, the Harry L. Price Field where the boys’ lacrosse and soccer teams compete.

Price was also a civil leader, serving on the Pottstown School Board as well as a member of the Pottstown Borough Council. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce and American Red Cross, and he was inducted into the Pottstown Hall of Fame.

He was born in Chestertown, Md., on Feb. 26, 1938, in to the late Kent S. Price Sr. and Lucia Acquaviva Price. He was raised on a dairy farm in Chestertown and attended Swarthmore College and Lehigh University where he earned a master’s degree.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1964.

He is survived by his daughter, Bronwyn DeMaso; daughter-in-law, Stephanie Price; grandchildren, Matteo, Lucia, Luca, Stella, and Jillian; and brothers, Col. Charles F. Price, USAF (Ret.) and the Hon. John Frederick Price, and their families.

Price was predeceased by his son, Job, a decorated Navy Seal, and brother, Kent, in 2012; and his wife, Nancy, in 2016.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be sent to The Hill School, 860 Beech St, Pottstown, PA 19464, to support lacrosse in honor of Harry. Online donations can be made at https://alumni.thehill.org/InMemoryofHarryPrice

Mercury Staff writer Evan Brandt contributed to this article.

No one was injured, but everything in the homes was destroyed including at least one pet. The Red Cross was on the scene to assist the fire’s victims.

Royersford Fire Chief Gary Wezel said the initial call came into the station at 5:43 p.m.

Being that the fire’s location, 237 to 227 Second Ave., is only two blocks from the fire station “we got there pretty quick,” Wezel said.

However, the strong winds blowing Wednesday “were a significant factor and we went to a second alarm within 10 minutes, and we had gone to a third alarm 30 to 40 minutes after we got there,” Wezel said.

All in all, he said at least 10 fire companies were involved in fighting the fire, which began on the east end of the row homes and was blown west, toward Washington Street, by the wind.

Power was turned off while the fire was fought, which extended until about 9 p.m. The scene was not cleared until 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

By 1 p.m. Thursday, all that was left were the outer frames of the homes, and the sun could be seen shining through what were once roofs.

Charred remains spilled onto the sidewalk where the sawhorses keeping the steady stream of onlookers from getting too close as a steady stream of cars drove by to survey the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It is being investigated by the state police fire inspector, who investigates all Royersford’s fires, said Wezel.

On Tuesday, police released the name of the victim: Joseph Shelton, who also has an address in Upper Darby in Delaware County. He remained in critical condition at a trauma center as of Tuesday afternoon.

Police were called to the area around 8:30 p.m. Sunday for a report of shots fired, according to Pottstown Police Chief Mick Markovich.

Upon arrival, police found multiple shell casings and a small amount of blood.

“After several minutes the Pottstown Police Department received a phone call from the Pottstown Hospital indicating that they had a gunshot victim,” the press release issued by Markovich said.

The victim had a gunshot wound to the left side of his face, the chief said.

The victim, who Markovich said had been staying with family in Pottstown for the last two months, was transported to an unspecified trauma center, where he is listed in critical condition.

Pottstown Detectives processed the scene and are actively investigating the shooting.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is being asked to call the Pottstown Police Department Detective Division at 610-970-6574.

Police are not releasing any further information at this time.

Town Center, first proposed in 2005, calls for more than 700 homes and commercial space on 209 acres along Swamp Pike.

As part of the evidence for their claims of racial bias in delaying and blocking the project, lawyers for R.P. Wynestone and seven other Colmar-based investors point to the controversy that surrounded the police department several years ago that resulted in a settlement with the attorney general’s office after a year-long investigation into racial bias alleged against former police chief Kevin McKeon and former police Sgt. William Moyer.

Moyer, who retired from the police department, assumed a four-year term on the township planning commission that began on Jan. 1, 2022.

“Through a years-long campaign of hindrance and delay, defendants have disrupted development and violated the landowners’ property rights by reviewing development applications in bad-faith, passing restrictive ordinances designed to make development commercially unfeasible,” the developers’ lawyers at Kang Haggerty wrote in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on March 5.

“These extreme measures are motivated by unconscionable and unconstitutional income discrimination and racial bias, designed to stop the  construction of new affordable housing that in turn increases housing density and attracts new residents to the township, and to prevent any increase in the population of racial minorities in New Hanover Township, which is currently 95% white,” the lawsuit charges, adding, “the township’s recent history is marred by scandals, in which prominent township officials openly used racial slurs without repercussion.”

(Current U.S. Census figures put the percentage of New Hanover’s white population as being 91.9%.)

As part of the “scandals” to which the lawsuit refers, two former officers, Keith Youse and Dennis Psota, recounted numerous alleged instances of racist comments and harassment from the department’s two senior officers.

Additionally, Youse whose wife is Asian, said on his last day on the job, an eggroll was placed amid the box of his possessions that was being carried to his car.

The township hired an attorney to investigate the charges after articles were published in Philly Voice magazine and The Mercury and the Pottstown NAACP became involved.

In June of 2020, the township announced that the probe, led by attorney John Gonzales, had found no evidence to confirm any of the claims.

In the wake of the report and the agreement with the attorney general’s office, McKeon’s unusual 10-year contract with the township expired and was not renewed and Moyer retired. Youse was elected to the board of supervisors in 2021 but he is the only township supervisor not named individually as a defendant.

“The township never released the results of its internal investigation into the racist comments and Sgt. Moyer retired from the police department without adverse action,” the lawsuit notes. “Instead of cleaning up its act, the township rewarded one of the individuals involved, Sgt. Moyer, by appointing him to the township’s planning commission.”

The lawyers further wrote, “in appointing Sgt. Moyer to the planning commission, the township effectively endorsed his racist comments.”

Contacted Wednesday, Township Manager Jamie Gwynn said it is the township’s policy not to comment on legal matters.

Town Center, proposed on 209 acres where the old New Hanover Airport was located, is bounded by Swamp Pike in the north, Route 663 in the east and Township Line Road to the west. It was first proposed in 2005, under zoning created just for the project and received a preliminary approval in 2007.

By law, because it received preliminary approval in 2007, the Town Center project is not subject to new land development ordinances the township has adopted in the interim but is instead governed by the ordinances in place at the time of its preliminary approval.

The original developer went bankrupt and R.P. Wynestone acquired the project, approvals intact, in 2011. The plans have since been revised at least eight times with one revision arriving as recently as this month.

Over the years, the township has rejected various versions of the plan and adopted new ordinances that developers say are meant specifically to block and impede the project’s progress, specifically new stormwater standards.

“This is a case about a township taking extreme measures and displaying egregious conduct to prevent development in the community by any means necessary, including bad-faith consideration of development,” the lawsuit says.

It notes that the comprehensive plan for the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee, of which New Hanover is a part, indicates the township will provide a minimum of 750 acres for a fair share of various dwelling types encompassing all basic forms of housing. “Much of the area in the township designated for primary growth is comprised of the landowners’ properties,” the lawsuit notes.

“As a significant development that would increase affordable housing inventory and accordingly promote racial diversity, Defendants undertook a concerted plan to stop the RP Wynstone Development, by imposing burdensome requirements, rescinding prior approvals, taking steps to make it economically unfeasible, and otherwise halt its progress,” the lawyers wrote.

“Defendants’ conduct creates an ever-shifting framework of changing laws and arbitrary requirements, making it effectively impossible for plaintiffs to develop the properties,” R.P. Wynestone’s lawyers wrote. “Any effort to comply with these requirements are ineffective, because defendants simply change the rules again, imposing large expenses on plaintiffs and effectively halting any forward progress.”

All the delays and constant changes to the plan have resulted in the developers enduring $150 million in unnecessary costs, the lawyers insist. In addition to asking for $150 million in compensation, the lawsuit has also asked the court to impose unspecified “punitive damages” on the township for its conduct in this matter, according to the lawsuit.

Randy Smith, 58, and Paul Cullin, 53, were found dead on Jan. 25 on the first floor of 203 East St., a half-double on the northeast corner with North Hanover Street, according to police.

Authorities were called to the scene by Cullin’s daughter, Samantha Haefner, 29, who apparently lived in the home with the other two.

The home, owned by Smith, is well known to police and borough code officials.

“It is known as a hoarder house and it is difficult to move inside,” according to the police report.

Both deceased were sitting on the floor of the house, which has no heat or electricity and “is known to be obtaining power from gas generators” in the basement, so the fire department was called and detected low levels of carbon monoxide, according to the incident report.

No sign of foul play or injuries to the deceased were observed by police.

Goodwill medics on the scene determined Haefner “had an elevated carbon monoxide levels” and was taken to Pottstown Hospital for care.

As of Feb. 23, the coroner’s office still had not issued a cause of death and was awaiting the results of toxicology reports.

Police said in addition to two generators, there were “multiple heaters inside the property.”

Haefner told police she and her mother had been staying at the home for about six months and that she usually stays in the front room of the home and Cullin and Smith stayed in the rear room, where they were found.

Haefner’s father, who frequently visits, arrived and told police that both of the deceased were drug users, according to police.

East Street neighbor Ginette Himes-Beetem asked the borough council during the Feb. 12 meeting why Smith was still allowed to live on the property.

“There has been a major hoarder problem there for years, there was no water, no electric,” Himes-Beetem said. “At any given time there were 50 to 100 lawn mowers with gas and oil seeping into the ground. It was all brought to the borough’s attention and he was still allowed to live there. I’m just so disappointed this dragged on for five years until tragedy struck.”

Keith Place, director of the borough’s Licensing and Inspections Department, told MediaNews Group that the borough has cleaned the exterior of the property at least twice, as well as convinced the owner to do the same “and then you come back a few weeks later and it would all be back again.”

Smith, “would never come to the door and the only time we ever could speak to him would be when we arrived and he was outside working on one of the lawnmowers.”

Unlike a rental property, where an interior inspection can be compelled, his department has limited powers regarding owner-occupied properties.

“We’re pretty much limited to the exterior,” Place said. “The borough does not evict people. We can only compel a landlord to evict tenants.”

The department does have the authority to post a property as uninhabitable when known issues such as lack of water or electricity exist, but it remains the owners’ responsibility to comply with the order, Place explained.

“We expect them to be in there trying to correct the problem and we can’t be there all day to make sure they’re not staying there,” he said. “We can cite them, they don’t show up to court, then it sits in the court system for a couple weeks and it can’t be resolved because there is no plea and you can’t hold a hearing.”

In very limited circumstances, when there is an obvious structural problem that poses eminent danger to the life of the residents, and/or to others, the borough can forcibly have an owner removed from a property, but it is very rare and comes with a serious risk of a civil lawsuit, said Place.

The explosion killed Francine White, 67, Alana Wood, 13, Jeremiah White, 12, Nehemiah White, 10, and Tristan White, 8 and injured two survivors, Eugene White and Wood’s mother, Kristina Matuzsan.

And it’s been nearly a year since the last official information about the blast and the investigation into its cause was released — that the Public Utility Commission has ruled out natural gas as the cause of the explosion.

Since then, neighbors and local officials have expressed frustration about the apparent lack of progress in the investigation and the failure to clean up the ever-present evidence of the tragedy.

Monday night, Borough Manager Justin Keller offered some insight into the primary reason for the delay — lawyers, lots and lots of lawyers.

Asked by Councilman Joseph Kirkland to provide to the public the same update Keller had provided to him privately, Keller offered the following:

“With something like this, there can be a lot of litigation and lawsuits that result, coming from a lot of different directions. and through the course of that, there’s a lot of attorneys that are involved with this particular issue. There’s a lot of investigators, with governmental entities and private, through the attorneys, that are looking into this matter and trying to understand what the cause is and, from the attorneys’ standpoint, who is at fault,” Keller said.

“Because of all the parties that are involved, each step they take; each time they have to remove something from the site; or to get the site cleaned up, or conduct testing; all the attorneys have to meet, they have to agree and they have to set a date,” Keller said.

“So things in that regard are moving at a snail’s pace, but I want to assure everyone that things are still moving forward and we’re doing what we can to press them to try to get the site at least cleaned up, because we think its been more than due time for that to happen,” said Keller.

Michael A. Budner, an attorney with the Philadelphia firm of Saltz Mongeluzzi and Bendesky, represents the estates of the victims and the two survivors. He said a lawsuit has been brought against PECO, which then “brought in” AmeriGas and “a manufacturer,” meaning “there are five distinct defendants.”

In addition to his clients, those in surrounding homes that were damaged and, in some cases, condemned, and their insurance companies and their insurance companies’ lawyers, are all involved.

“All together there’s about 10 law firms and two- to three-dozen lawyers,” Budner said.

The next major step in the investigation, he said, is to scan the site with ground-penetrating radar, or GPR.

“In order to do that, the ground can’t be frozen and the site has to be swept clean, but we want to do that only a day or two before the GPR so things don’t blow onto the site before the scan,” he said.

Discussions among all the parties to schedule the GPR are now underway and once a date is set, the date to clean up the site can occur, Budner explained.

So far, the only information made public about the cause of the blast, which damaged homes for several blocks around the site, is what it is not. Last March the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement concluded that the cause of the explosion was not natural gas from the PECO gas line in front of the house.

However, unlike other agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) or the federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Agency (ATF), the PUC “does not issue a written report, said Budner. They have been kept in the loop on the investigation and, should any additional relevant evidence be discovered, the PUC could re-open its investigation, he said.

The ATF “continues its ongoing investigation into the matter,” according to Keller. “Despite our repeated inquiries for updates, they have emphasized that no information will be disclosed until the cause is definitively determined. As of now, we have not been provided with a specific timeline for their findings.”

Budner similarly said all parties have been cooperating with the ATF “but they have not informed any of us about their progress.”

He said it is the parents and property owners who have paid to put up the temporary fencing and screening at the site. “We can’t put in fence posts because that would disturb the ground, which is the focus of the case.”

As for the parents themselves, they continue to grapple with their injuries, both physical and spiritual.

“They are doing the best they can,” Budner said. “Understand they were both catastrophically injured and the mom ultimately had to have a leg amputated, so that’s a lot in and of itself before you even get to their trauma and grief. This is a nightmare they relive over and over again. I only hope they can find some kind of peace someday.”