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Agency outlines repairs to Cannonsville Dam - News - recordonline.com - Middletown, NY
NYC DEP outlines repairs to Cannonsville Dam
NARROWSBURG - New York City environmental officials said at a public information meeting Monday that they’re hoping to fix a hole by September that’s been letting out turbid water in a rock embankment near the Cannonsville Dam in Delaware County.
Approximately 20 people attended the meeting where New York City Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Supply Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush detailed the issues related to the dam - and how the agency plans to fix it.
Rush said the DEP is currently draining the reservoir. This will mean the water drawn from there will force water to flow into the West Branch Delaware River.
There is currently no imminent threat of the dam failing, Rush said. But draining the reservoir is being done “out of an abundance of safety.”
Rush had maps showing areas that could be affected by flooding if it were to happen. He said it would take six hours for the leading edge of such a flood to reach Narrowsburg.
“This condition certainly is not a good condition,” Rush said. “It’s something that shouldn’t have happened.”
He said the city takes full responsibility for what happened.
Cannonsville - which has a capacity of 95.7 gallons of water - was approximately 91 percent full as of Monday, according to the DEC website.
The issue stems from a 14-megawatt hydroelectric facility project the city was constructing at the Cannonsville Dam. The project was meant to generate electricity through water rather than fossil fuels, Rush said.
The company performing the construction drilled a boring in preparation of building the facility on July 8. When the drill was pulled out, it also pulled up the casing already in place.
This caused ground water - including sediment - that was under natural pressure several dozen feet below surface level to go into the West Branch Delaware River.
The water then travels 44 miles to the upper end of the Rondout Reservoir and into the 85-mile Delaware Aqueduct.
Workers contacted the DEP immediately when the discharge was discovered, he said.
To address this, Rush said the DEP has already contracted with New Jersey-based Moretrench - a geotechnical contractor - to drill eight 10-inch bore holes above the existing boring to create upstream relief wells.
But the more the water flow upstream, the less turbid discharge, Rush says.
The plan is then to inject high-pressure grout up the length of the bore hole to close off the area.
Rush said they plan to be done by late August to early September.
A similar meeting will be held Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the Best Western Hotel at 120 U.S. Route 6 in Matamoras, Pa.
abeam@th-record.com
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NYC DEP outlines repairs to Cannonsville Dam
NARROWSBURG - New York City environmental officials said at a public information meeting Monday that they’re hoping to fix a hole by September that’s been letting out turbid water in a rock embankment near the Cannonsville Dam in Delaware County.
Approximately 20 people attended the meeting where New York City Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Supply Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush detailed the issues related to the dam - and how the agency plans to fix it.
Rush said the DEP is currently draining the reservoir. This will mean the water drawn from there will force water to flow into the West Branch Delaware River.
There is currently no imminent threat of the dam failing, Rush said. But draining the reservoir is being done “out of an abundance of safety.”
Rush had maps showing areas that could be affected by flooding if it were to happen. He said it would take six hours for the leading edge of such a flood to reach Narrowsburg.
“This condition certainly is not a good condition,” Rush said. “It’s something that shouldn’t have happened.”
He said the city takes full responsibility for what happened.
Cannonsville - which has a capacity of 95.7 gallons of water - was approximately 91 percent full as of Monday, according to the DEC website.
The issue stems from a 14-megawatt hydroelectric facility project the city was constructing at the Cannonsville Dam. The project was meant to generate electricity through water rather than fossil fuels, Rush said.
The company performing the construction drilled a boring in preparation of building the facility on July 8. When the drill was pulled out, it also pulled up the casing already in place.
This caused ground water - including sediment - that was under natural pressure several dozen feet below surface level to go into the West Branch Delaware River.
The water then travels 44 miles to the upper end of the Rondout Reservoir and into the 85-mile Delaware Aqueduct.
Workers contacted the DEP immediately when the discharge was discovered, he said.
To address this, Rush said the DEP has already contracted with New Jersey-based Moretrench - a geotechnical contractor - to drill eight 10-inch bore holes above the existing boring to create upstream relief wells.
But the more the water flow upstream, the less turbid discharge, Rush says.
The plan is then to inject high-pressure grout up the length of the bore hole to close off the area.
Rush said they plan to be done by late August to early September.
A similar meeting will be held Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the Best Western Hotel at 120 U.S. Route 6 in Matamoras, Pa.
abeam@th-record.com
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