Sometimes Life Near the Morgantown Locks ‘Looks Like an Island of
Trash’
Morgantown Dominion Post
20 September 2009
By Alex Lang
Mary Gutmann, who lives at The View at the Park, said that she notices
another problem with the garbage in the river: The trash builds up
behind the dam. “It looks like an island of trash,” Gutmann said.
Though, Gutmann said she will sometimes wake up and notice a much
different scene — the trash is gone.
Gutmann said she thinks workers at the Morgantown Lock and Dam open the
dam and let the debris drift upriver to Pittsburgh. The Army Corps of
Engineers operates the Morgantown Lock and Dam, and David Sneberger,
chief of the lock and dams, said that they are not being deceptive when
the litter is gone.
The litter goes through the dam when water levels get too high and they
have to open the gates so towns south of Morgantown aren’t flooded.
They have to open the gates to control water levels and the debris gets
pulled along for the ride.
The Corps doesn’t pick up the debris anywhere along the river,
Sneberger said.
Most of the debris is timber that has fallen in the river, Sneberger
said. But there is also some man-made litter, dumped into the river.
Anytime there is rain or rainwater runoff debris is going to end up in
the river, Sneberger said.
The Corps is unable to remove the litter behind the dam for a couple of
reasons, Sneberger said.
He said they don’t know what makes up the garbage behind the dam, so
they have to treat it as hazardous until they make a final
determination. He used the example if there is a half-empty gas can in
the litter, all the trash would be considered hazardous. If the litter
is classified hazardous, the cost is three times greater for removal.
It would also cost an “astronomical” amount of money to remove all the
litter from behind all the dams they control. Sneberger said it would
be in the millions of dollars to remove all the litter.
“It would take up our entire operations budget,” Sneberger said.
Sneberger said the only issue with the litter is that people see it and
dislike the view.
“It doesn’t hinder our operations,” he said.
While looking out at the river, Gutmann said she didn’t see any trash
floating down the stream, but she is still bothered because she knows
it is in the river.
The Gutmanns have lived at The View at the Park for five years and
Gutmann said she hasn’t noticed a decrease in the amount of litter in
the river.
“I think it is very unclean,” Gutmann said. “It makes us look like a
community that doesn’t care, and it isn’t true.”