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Thick mud is all that remains of the former Wanamie Dam in Newport Township. The Earth Conservancy breached the dam because it was identified by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a dam in need of repair or removal.
Thick mud is all that remains of the former Wanamie Dam in Newport Township. The Earth Conservancy breached the dam because it was identified by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a dam in need of repair or removal.
Submitted photo
A wood turtle sits on a rock alongside the drained Wanamie Dam.
Submitted Photo
Newport Township resident Mark Rinehamer couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the Wanamie Dam last week.
The dam was breached by the Earth Conservancy, allowing the water from the small impoundment to drain. Rinehamer watched as pickerel, crappie and catfish washed out of the breached dam into the small stream below. He stood in disbelief as he found numerous turtles and fish under rocks that were once submerged under 5 feet of water.
“This didn’t need to be done. It’s a crime,” Rinehamer said. “There were fish and turtles all over the place, and they’re all dead now. I feel terrible because this could’ve been avoided.”
The Newport Township impoundment was identified by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a High Hazard Dam, leaving the Earth Conservancy with the option to repair the structure or remove it. The agency completed removal of the dam last week.
“We had no choice,” said Earth Conservancy Executive Director Mike Dziak. “DEP mandated it. We tried to get them to change their mind for four years.”
DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said Earth Conservancy did have a choice and decided to remove the dam. He said the dam was a safety concern because if it failed, there was the potential for loss of life and property.
“That’s why it was on the hazard list,” Carmon said. “We considered it a safety issue.”
No matter who is to blame, Rinehamer and other residents consider it a tragedy.
Alden resident Mark Sklaney said the dam was a scapegoat for flooding problems in the area. He attributed the problems to access roads that cross the creek flowing from the dam. A pipe placed under one of the roads is too small, Sklaney said. The pipe blocked up during the June flood, he said, ponding water behind it until it washed out and flooded Kirmar Parkway.
“A few years ago there was another access road above where this one washed out, and it did the same thing,” Sklaney said. “They kept putting in roads to cross the creek, with drainage pipes, and the pipes will always clog and then flood. They are blaming the Wanamie Dam for the problems. It’s a shame that something that was there for almost 100 years had to be trashed when it wasn’t even the problem.”
Dziak said DEP has inspected the site since the work was finished. In regards to the aquatic life, Carmon said species inventory wasn’t required.
Naturalist Rick Koval said the dam served as habitat for a wide array of amphibians and reptiles, including newts, several species of frogs and painted, snapping, wood and Eastern box turtles.
This time of year, he said, amphibians are in hibernation beneath the mud. Now that the water has been drained, Koval said, the mud will freeze.
“Anything that was in there is likely to dehydrate, freeze or succumb to predators,” Koval said. “When the temperature gets below freezing, it will kill them. The chance of anything surviving is slim to none.”