Back to Nature
Washington PA Observer Reporter
28 October 2010
BRAVE - The nearly 100-year-old dam on Dunkard Creek created a
picturesque scene and a very active fishing hole, but some say it also
created environmental hazards.
By next week, the old dam on Ed and Verna Presley's farm will be gone.
Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of U.S. Department of
Agriculture, is removing the concrete dam, which is one of two that
were built to provide water for cooling the gas processed at People's
Natural Gas Co.'s compressor station in Brave. The project, estimated
to cost between $77,000 and $150,000, is financed through the federal
stimulus known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"This will return the stream to its natural flow. It will help ease
flooding in the area, but that's not the main reason for doing this,"
said Suzy Funka-Petery, district conservationist with NRCS.
The main purpose is to restore the creek so that fish and other water
life thrive. The twin dams create pools of water and prevent fish from
migrating up and down the stream.
Golden algae also tend to thrive in the pools. State and federal
environmental officials pointed to the algae as the cause of a massive
fish kill that wiped out almost all water life along a 43-mile section
of the stream about a year ago. However, mine water discharge was the
underlying culprit.
NRCS officials eventually want to remove both dams, but the agency is
still negotiating with Anderson Fittings, which owns the brass plant
and the nearby upper dam.
"That is our long-term goal, but removing just one dam will certainly
have a positive impact on the stream area because it opens up the
stream corridor," said Andrew Kling of NRCS.
Ed and Verna Presley purchased the land surrounding the lower dam a few
years ago and a short time later, the environmental group American
Rivers asked them to consider demolishing the structure. At first, Ed
Presley balked because he liked the dam, but eventually, he realized
removing it would be the right thing to do.
"We were pretty much settled on doing it when the fish kill happened.
But that definitely put an added impetus and made it even more
important," Ed Presley said. "We hope this will improve the fish life
for the entire length of the stream."
The Presleys could not afford to demolish the dam on their own, so they
applied for help through NRCS's watershed protection and flood plain
easement funds. The federal agency's primary purpose is to work with
private landowners in conserving environmental resources.
Eventually, the Presleys would like to turn the property into a
conservation classroom and invite teachers and their students to study
water, soil and wildlife.
"We want it to be a place where kids can come and see what nature is
all about," said Verna Presley, a retired science teacher. "We have to
encourage these kids to become stewards of our environment, because if
we don't, we won't have any environment left."
According to the book, "A Village Called Brave," written by James
Michael Hoy and others, the dams were part of People's Natural Gas'
cooling system on Dunkard Creek.
About 1910, the company placed pipes at the bottom of the creek and the
water cooled the gas, allowing it to be safely transported to
Pittsburgh and elsewhere. The dams were built to ensure a steady supply
of water for the cooling system.
The area near the dams also became popular for swimming because the hot
pipes heated the water and allowed people to swim even in cool weather.
The dams have not been used for their original purpose since the
compression station closed in 1959.
"It's an engineering marvel how they did it," said project engineer
Paul Woodworth of Princeton Hydro. "You would never be able to do it
today (because of the environmental concerns). But from an engineering
standpoint, I have to admire their ingenuity."