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Land Resources / News / Massachusetts
State lowers pond, calling dam unsafe
Source: Boston.com, by Elaine Cushman Carroll
For 50 years, Judy Jackson has delighted in fishing, swimming, and ice skating at the brackish pond that forms behind the 300-year-old Forge Pond Dam in Freetown. Now she and about 40 other residents who live near Forge Pond have gotten a wake-up call that could threaten their way of life.
August 16, 2007 After 10 years of trying unsuccessfully to get the owner of the private dam to make repairs, officials from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation declared the dam unsafe and a danger to those who live downstream, toward Assonet Village. Late last month, as a last resort, officials began lowering the level of the pond by cutting the thick wooden planks inside concrete sluiceways that buttress the stone dam, near the intersection of Route 79 and Forge Pond Road. They said they plan to continue removing planks until they have drained about 3 1/2 to 4 feet of water -- a move that resi dents say will likely shrink in half the 45-acre pond that is only about 8 to 10 feet at its deepest. The move comes as state officials have heightened enforcement of dam safety following the near-breaching of a dam in Taunton two years ago. But action like that taken at Forge Pond is unusual, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "It's pretty rare that the DCR has to go in and take action. Usually the owners do cooperate," said Wendy Fox, the spokeswoman. She said the department oversees 1,620 dams in the state and is working with owners of 40 of those dams to make improvements. Dam owner Andre Fournier of New Bedford said he doesn't think the Forge Pond Dam is in danger of collapsing. He said that in 1973 state officials told him that the dam was in imminent danger of giving way. "Thirty-four years later it's still there. That dam couldn't blow if you put dynamite into it. It ain't any danger to anybody," he said. But DCR dam safety manager William C. Salomaa told residents at a recent meeting that agency officials "believe a portion of your community is at risk from the dam." He said the agency is releasing water from the pond as "a last resort." Salomaa said that although the water is generally kept away from the 8-foot-high dam by a deep layer of silt, the water in the pond has crested above the dam during "significant storm events." In addition, water has begun filtering through the huge rocks that make up the base of the dam and the pressure of the water could dislodge the rocks and cause the dam to give way completely, which would cause flooding downstream, he said. DCR consultant Chad W. Cox told residents that the cost of replacing the dam could easily be $750,000 to $1 million. "That dam is a mess. I think it would be very difficult to do piecemeal repairs, if the owner would let you," said Cox, who said he has inspected the dam on a "cursory level." Residents living near the pond are chagrined by the diminishing of their neighborhood resource. "My concern is the loss of this whole resource. Everybody uses that pond," said Bob King of Assonet, who owns much of the land surrounding the dam. "I'm afraid it's going to affect the wells in that area." King was one of about 10 nearby residents who turned out for the recent meeting with selectmen and the dam safety specialists from DCR. Fox said the state has been working with Fournier for 10 years and began fining him $500 a day several months ago. She said the state is responsible for inspecting the dam, and after the problems at the Taunton dam, officials have become more aggressive about enforcement. The individual owner is responsible for repairs, she said. Fox said Forge Pond Dam is a "high hazard dam" because it could cause the loss of life and property downstream should it fail. DCR officials said no study has been done to identify which properties in the area would be at greatest risk of flooding. Fox said Fournier, who also owns the Monument Dam downstream, has taken no responsibility. Fournier, 67, said he has had five back surgeries in the past 10 years and said if he was not in constant pain he would go fix the dam himself. "It ain't no big deal to fix," said Fournier, who said he has been doing construction work for decades. He said that he lives on a fixed income and that the cost estimates given to him by an engineer several years ago were "ridiculous." Fournier said other people in the area have blocked the sluiceways with plywood and other materials and that is the only time the water crested over the top of the dam. "It's flowing nicely now" since the state removed blockages, he said. "I could drain that whole pond if I wanted to. I have that right." Fournier said he would like to swap the dam for another piece of property in town. But selectmen say the town does not want the dam. "We don't want to own the dam from a liability standpoint. We just don't have the financial resources to fix it, " said Lawrence N. Ashley, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, adding that the town is already seeking ways to fund repairs of an historic three-arch stone bridge downstream from Forge Pond. "Somebody's got to stand as the responsible party or nothing's going to get done," Salomaa said at the meeting. Selectwoman Lisa Pacheco has been named head of a study committee on the dam and will be joined by Jackson and others who hope to form a group that could take ownership of the dam and raise money for the repairs. Forge Pond Campground owner Diane Robert said the pond is a big part of her business. "It's part of the atmosphere. Our campers use it for fishing and boating," said Robert in an interview. Robert, who owns the campground with her husband, Jeff, said she feels stuck in the middle. "We're just waterfront property. We never claimed to own the pond," she said. "It's going to affect our business. We just don't know to what degree yet." Residents said they do not know of any endangered species living in the area, but two great blue herons grace the pond and snapping turtles abound. Fishermen use the pond year round, catching mostly large mouth bass, catfish, sunfish, and perch, Robert said. DCR's Salomaa has agreed to comply with selectmen's request to consult local conservation officials about the possible impact on wildlife and wetlands in the area before further lowering the pond. The dam is typical of the town's early industrial history, according to Melanie Dodenhoff of the Freetown Historical Society. The dam was built to power a gristmill in 1703, and then used to power a cut nail manufacturing plant in the mid-1800s, she said. Read the complete article from Boston.com » |
