SCRANTON — Pennsylvania American Water gave local officials a tour Friday of a dam rehabilitation project in Dunmore and a stream restoration project in Scranton.
Company President Justin Ladner and staffers took about dozen people, who included elected officials or their representatives and members of business and conservation organizations, to the remote No. 7 Reservoir dam rehabilitation project in Dunmore.
Traveling in a limousine bus, the group then went to Darcy Park in East Scranton, where the water company undertook a stream restoration project after Roaring Brook was fouled by an inadvertent sediment release in 2024 from the dam project at the No. 7 Reservoir.
The goal of the tour was to give the officials a look at the water company’s infrastructure investments by showcasing a project that’s near completion — the No. 7 Reservoir dam — and seeing investments made in the community to improve Roaring Brook and Darcy Park after the sediment release, PAW spokeswoman Alana Robert said.
During rehabilitation of the No. 7 Reservoir dam in Dunmore, the water company in February 2024 inadvertently released large quantities of silt and sediment into Roaring Brook. The company last fall completed a $618,000 project to improve public access and aquatic habitat in a stretch of Roaring Brook along Richter Avenue in East Scranton, including construction of a disabled-accessible fishing platform. The new deck along a bend in the waterway was built where Nay Aug Park’s Davis Trail meets Richter Avenue.
The water company also improved the banks of Roaring Brook at nearby Darcy Park across from the East Scranton Little League fields, and planted numerous trees, including sugar maples, eastern redbuds, tulip poplars, northern red oaks and American sycamores.
“This is my first time being here and talking to a lot of the local folks who understand the ecosystem,” Ladner told the group. “The great work here (at Darcy Park) is the result of the sediment release. We can make positives out of challenging circumstances and that’s what we’re doing here.”
Scranton Councilman Patrick Flynn expressed concern about the company’s old infrastructure in the city, where downtown recently experienced two large-scale water main breaks that caused significant disruptions.
“I understand there’s a lot of needs to update this infrastructure and there’s been a huge investment in that. I understand it’s more behind-the-scenes stuff that people don’t necessarily see, but I’d also like to see them do a better job of showing individuals and showing us in the municipalities the work that they’re doing to help our residents on a daily basis, as well,” Flynn said.
“I’m no engineer, so I don’t understand what needs to be done (and) when, but I do believe that there’s a lot of aging infrastructure in the city of Scranton that also needs to be addressed along with these other things, especially when we’re getting the rate hikes that we’re getting.”
A tree planted at Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton as part of an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Trees planted along a path at Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton as part of an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)ion
A sign for a sugar maple tree planted at Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton as part of an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Slopeside steps built at Darcy Park for better access to Roaring Brook in East Scranton were part of an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Slopeside steps built at Darcy Park for better access to Roaring Brook in East Scranton were part of an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A view from Ash Street of Darcy Park and Roaring Brook in East Scranton that had an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Pennsylvania American Water President Justin Ladner at Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton, where PAW undertook an improvement project. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Pennsylvania American Water gave a tour Friday, Aug. 28. 2026 to a group of local officials of Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton, where PAW undertook an improvement project. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Pennsylvania American Water gave a tour Friday, Aug. 28. 2026 to a group of local officials of Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton, where PAW undertook an improvement project. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Pennsylvania American Water gave a tour Friday, Aug. 28. 2026 to a group of local officials of Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton, where PAW undertook an improvement project. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Roaring Brook in East Scranton on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Pennsylvania American Water gave a tour Friday, Aug. 28. 2026 to a group of local officials of Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton, where PAW undertook an improvement project. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Pennsylvania American Water gave a tour Friday, Aug. 28. 2026 to a group of local officials of Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton, where PAW undertook an improvement project. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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A tree planted at Darcy Park along Roaring Brook in East Scranton as part of an improvement project by Pennsylvania American Water. Photo taken Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)