TodayOpossum Lake plan changes
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Article RatingThe Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has backed off from its plan to empty Opossum Lake, saying it will lower the lake until seepage on the spillway stops and then decide what happens next.
And after a Friday meeting between members of the commission, the state Department of Environmental Protection, state Sen. Patricia Vance, R-31, and state Rep. Will Gabig, R-199, the commission also decided it would hold a public meeting after it knows more about the dam in Lower Frankford Township.
The timing of that meeting remains up in the air, says Dan Tredinnick, press secretary for the Fish and Boat Commission. "Frankly, we don't know how far we still have to go," he says. "There's still more unknowns than knowns at this point."
"To have a meeting now would be kind of premature," Vance agrees.
Risk to be evaluated
The commission announced Sept. 19 it would drain the lake and it would remain drained until the commission got money to replace the dam.
Now engineers are telling legislators they plan to draw down the lake only until muddy seepage from pipes on the concrete spillway stops. Then they plan to drill 10 holes through the spillway to check for void spaces, said Tim Lush, Lower Frankford Township supervisor, at a township meeting Tuesday.
Gabig said the more conservative approach makes sense.
"They need to evaluate the risk," he said this morning. "You certainly don't want to put anyone in jeopardy with the risk of the dam bursting and jeopardizing people and property."
Lush met recently with a state dam safety engineer, Dennis Dickey from DEP.
"They say there are silty or grainy discharges that they feel are being washed away" from under the spillway, Lush said. "There's not a problem itself with the dam. They feel there's a problem with the spillway."
The lake has been draining slowly for about two weeks.
Vance says the commission is acting for "public safety" and wants to err on the side of caution.
Opossum Lake is termed a "high hazard dam" because its failure would jeopardize homes downstream. The dam is large enough to withstand a 15-inch rain in 24 hours but not 25 inches, the standard the federal government now uses to build dams, Lush said.
Not for sale
Under that kind of catastrophic storm, six feet of water would pour over the dam, he said.
Lush said the Fish and Boat Commission is not looking to sell the lake, contrary to rumors that have been circulating in the township. "They think it's one of the jewels in their pocket."
Residents agree.
"This is our heritage. This is our homestead. People say, ‘Where do you live?' and you say, ‘By the lake,'" says Craig Boyer, who has lived in Lower Frankford since 1997.
Township resident Craig Houston said he doesn't want to see the lake turn into a dirt bike track, which is what he fears would happen if the Fish and Boat Commission drains it completely.
"If they do leave this, they somehow should plant some sort of grass" to control the erosion and keep four-wheelers out, he said.
