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| State Senator John Eichelberger Faces Concerned Citizens At Central Fulton High School |
Last evening, March 21sh, The Pennsylvania Fish &
Boat Commission, (PFBC) held a public meeting at Central Fulton High
School in McConnellsburg to explain the reasons for the total Drawdown
of Meadow Grounds Lake, which is located in a valley nestled high in the
nearby mountains of Southcentral Pennsylvania. For a bit of background
on this and great photos of the area please visit the
Country Captures Blog and be certain to read the post,
"Meadow Grounds Lake: Good-bye Old Friend".
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| State Senator John Eichelberger |
The meeting was moderated by State Senator John
Eichelberger and began with a presentation by officials from the PFBC
and The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which gave an
overview and brief history of Meadow Grounds Lake.
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| PFBC Employee Giving Presentation |
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| Roger Adams: Chief -Division of Dam Safety-DEP |
Officials then went on to explain why they are
implementing a total Drawdown of the lake. The following points were
stressed: 163 downstream residents are at risk if there is a total dam
failure, but according to the Power-point presentation ,the current
condition is not "A Dam Hazard Emergency", Dam Deficiencies that exist
are: uncontrolled seepage on the right side of the spillway outlet,
Inadequate spillway-56% of required capacity. The dam is considered
"Unsafe", the draining of the reservoir greatly lessens the risk of dam
failure. Draining of the reservoir halts further damage to the
embankment and foundation from seepage. Reservoir needs to be drained to
do the repair.
At the conclusion of the presentation
Senator Eichelberger invited comments or questions from the Fulton
County Commissioners. Commissioner, Rodney McCray took the floor and
asked state officials to clarify for his understanding that this is two
problems, a seepage problem and a spillway problem, which they agreed
was correct. McCray went on say,"I know that this is going to be an
ongoing conversation between our office and the departments so I want
to frame my questions very carefully because I want to be able to carry
on a conversation in the future". McCray asked by for a show of hands
from the officials if they
had in fact personally visited the dam site and all indicated they had.
McCray further stated that the primary concerns of the Commissioners was
to save the dam and the safety of those downstream.
Several
concerned citizens also spoke. One expressed concerns that the
taxpayers would be stuck with paying the bill, while another said, "The
Game Commission owns it, DER owns it, the Fish Commission owns it" and
then went on to question what became of all of the money taken in from
hunting and fishing licenses, and the timber sale money from when the
back side of the mountain was cut off
Other comments
ranged from the one from a recent retiree who is concerned about the
loss of the lake as a fishing spot and the possible effect on the water
table, to one by a long time resident who lives directly downstream from
the dam. He explained that if the dam failed the water first comes
through a 75-80' wide gorge and it would come like a bullet or like a
shot out of a cannon.
McConnellsburg
realtor, Anthony D'Anna made a lengthy, and impassioned plea to
officials and the audience. He began by asking the panel how many lived
in Fulton County and none did. Then he asked where each was from and
the responses were: Blair, Centre,Cumberland, and Perry counties.
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| Anthony D'Anna Asks, "What is the action Plan?" |
He then asked if
anyone had done a study about the economic impact on Fulton County of
the loss of the Meadow Grounds Dam. D'Anna explained how this
personally affected him as a real estate agent, but took pains to
emphasize that he was using his personal example to illustrate the
broader problem and that the influx of residents attracted by areas such
as The Meadow Grounds and Cowans Gap is beneficial to the economy of
the county as a whole. He went on to say this about the decision to
drain the dam “This doesn't seem, it doesn't feel
like it was really thought out, this just seems like all of a sudden,
hey lets go close the Meadow Grounds Lake down and it just doesn't seem
from what you
are saying that this is really thought out. I mean I think we all
feel the same way, right from the beginning when we read this article
in the Public Opinon--the Commissioners didn't know about it (D'Anna's
talking is drowned in applause from audience at this point) " I'm
asking you ,did you? have you thought about it? as far as it sounds
like you're tempting us basically with a little bit of an action plan
with starting to get a grass roots movement-I think it's already
here-this is the grass roots movement, we're looking to
you for what is the action plan for saving the lake.OK”
This
brings us to the crux of the problem. The lack of
communication between agencies and officials on this problem has been little short of astounding. The
PFBC and DEP acted alone in studying the problem and deciding what to do
and then presented local officials and the public with what is
literally an accomplished fact. It certainly has the appearance of
being done in such a manner that no one would have a chance to oppose it
until was too late. At this point if it is not too late to reverse
the decision, it is certainly at the eleventh hour and the clock is
ticking rapidly as the lake gets lower each day.
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| Migratory Waterfowl, and Other Wildlife Will Be Negatively Impacted By Loss Of Lake |
Now it seems the
most likely outcome will be for the dam to remain empty for an extended
time, while officials develop a rehabilitation plan and try to secure
funding to implement it. Would it not have been better for all
agencies and officials involved to interface with each other and the
public from the first moment that problems were first perceived with the
dam and started working toward a solution. They could have worked on
securing funding in the intervening years, but now it is extremely
likely that at best the lake will remain empty for several years to
come. This will have a negative impact on the citizens of Fulton County,
the oudoor enthusiasts from a wide surrounding area, and last but not
least a thriving aquatic community, and large numbers of migratory
waterfowl.
