Flooding Leads Pittsfield ConCom to Bel Air Dam Deconstruction Site
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Bel Air Dam project team toured the site on Monday with the Conservation Commission to review conditions following a flooding incident.
Work has been on hold for two weeks after melting snow and a release of water from Pontoosuc Lake led to water overtopping of the almost 200-year-old, abandoned dam. The project team says deconstruction is still on track to end in December.
"They have plenty of time to finish the work, so they don't expect that they're going to need extra time, but we're all waiting," reported Robert Lowell, the Department of Conservation and Recreation's deputy chief engineer.
"… it's unfortunate, but the high-water conditions in the spring, we did have in the contract that the site might flood, so there was supposed to be a contingency for it, and we're now dealing with the complications of that."
DCR's Office of Dam Safety is leading the $20 million removal of the classified "high hazard" dam, funded by American Rescue Plan Act dollars. It has been an area of concern for more than a decade.
The dam on Pontoosuc Brook dates to 1832 and was used for nearly a hundred years to power a long-gone woolen mill. It's being targeted for removal, using American Rescue Plan Act funds, because the stacked stone structure poses a significant danger to homes and businesses downstream. Excavation of sediment began last fall by contractor SumCo Eco-Contracting of Wakefield.
Earlier this month, community members noticed flooding at the site bordering Wahconah Street; water levels were down by the next week. Conservation commissioners called for the site visit with concerns about the effects of the water release and how it is being remedied.
The group got a look at the large project area near the dam and asked questions. Chair James Conant explained that community members wanted to know the cause of the flooding.
Jane Winn, former executive director of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, said this was specifically brought up at the Conservation Commission hearing to ensure this sort of thing didn't happen.
"I just wanted it on record that this is twice in a row for SumCo in Pittsfield, and I find that unacceptable," she said about the environmental restoration and construction company.
Contractors put a cut in the water flow for a controlled release and installed two turbidity curtains downstream of the dam. Two 24-inch pipe pumps on site can be used if needed.
Pontoosuc Lake's water level management is not handled by Pittsfield, and an inquiry has been made about the lake's levels. The lake's spillway is operated by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which did some "response actions" to the rising water levels from snowmelt around the weekend of March 11.
Lowell said, "We could have been better prepared for it."
Jennifer Doyle-Breen, of AECOM*, which developed the ecological restoration proposal, added that despite the release, the water level at Pontoosuc has remained "pretty high."
"When I was recently up at the dam, the water was flowing over the top of the dam. There's nothing DCR can do about that once the water gets up that high," she said.
"There was a lot of snow, and we had a couple of really warm days. I do think that contributed to the situation here."
Tags: conservation commission, dam removal,
