Concerns about flooding along lower Perry Mills Run in Forward dissipated yesterday evening when creek water trapped behind a massive coal fly ash landslide gradually breached the gooey black dam.

The landslide along River Hill Road near Elizabeth occurred early Tuesday afternoon when a 100-yard long slab of saturated fly ash gave way and slipped down into the creek, blocking its flow and creating an 80-foot-high cliff.

By yesterday afternoon a half-acre lake had formed behind the slide.

Helen Humphreys, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman, said an evacuation recommendation was considered for half a dozen families living along Rostosky Ridge Road before the dammed up water gradually drained through the muddy slide area.

"There's been a self-breaching of the ash slide and a gradual migration of the ash down stream," Humphreys said. "The water flowing through the ash was not overwhelming."

She said the DEP planned to issue an emergency contract to excavate a channel through the ash to allow the water to flow in its natural channel and stabilize the slide area.

"It's sickening out there," said Andrew Kelly, owner of Rapp's Restaurant and Bar along the creek. "My whole parking lot's full of it and my floors inside the bar are a mess."

The fly ash was dumped on the 12-acre property owned by George Scagline more than 50 years ago and probably came from coal burning power plants or steel mills in the area. The DEP has been unable to determine the exact source.

The slide clogged the stream for about 500 yards. It cracked an 8-inch water line along the road that was repaired yesterday.

Perry Mills Run was running black with ash for 1¹/₂ miles to the Monongahela River. The DEP had not tested the material and fly ash is not classified as a hazardous material by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, despite containing high levels of mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead -- metals that have been linked to a variety of human health effects, including cancer.