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More testing needed at Wisecarver dam

3 min read

JEFFERSON – Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority has been asked to complete additional leak testing on the spillway at the dam at Wisecarver Reservoir in Franklin Township.

Work to repair the dam was completed in the spring of last year; however, the authority will be unable to restore the 18-acre lake fully until it completes the testing of the spillway required by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Authority engineer Randy Krause, following an authority board meeting Thursday, said the initial tests had indicated some seepage of water beneath the spillway. A geotechnical engineer hired by his firm had determined, however, the amount of seepage was insignificant, he said.

DEP apparently agrees with that assessment but has asked the authority to conduct another rounds of tests, he said. The process of testing involves filling the reservoir to a certain level and measuring the leakage.

Before those tests can begin, however, the authority must run a camera through the pipe on the bottom drain of the lake to check for a possible obstruction in the pipe, he said. Krause couldn’t say when the authority might be in the position to fully restore the lake.

The repairs completed to the dam had involved replacing the gabion, the stone-filled wire baskets placed on the dam’s downstream slope to prevent erosion should the dam overflow, with roller compacted concrete. The $2.2-million project was funded by state grants.

No work was done on the spillway as part of the project. If the testing determines the seepage is significant, the state could require the authority to grout the earth beneath the spillway.

The lake will be the centerpiece of a park that will be developed on the surrounding 380 acres of land owned by the authority. The water authority, Franklin Township and Greene County are now forming a separate authority to develop and manage the park.

The park authority will also raise money for the park’s development.

During the authority board meeting, the board voted to hire John Mihalik as authority controller to replace Tim Cottle, who retired several months ago. Mihalik, who has been working as interim controller since Cottle’s retirement, will be paid $80,480.

The authority approved management raises of five percent each year for each of the next five years. Board chairman Tim Faddis, who is the authority’s operations manager, abstained from the vote. The authority has nine management personnel.

The board received letters of retirement from James Goughenour, who has been with the authority 30 years, and Donald Wood, who has been with the authority 13 years. The retirements are effective Dec. 31. The board will hire two new employees to replace them.

The board agreed to pay Jefferson Township $13,185 for removing lagoon bed residue from the plant property on two days in April. The township mixes the material with soil for restoration work. The motion noted the rate was $11 an hour greater for equipment and $1 an hour greater for labor than the year before.

The board agreed to accept the township’s new quote for the material removal at $1,400 a day for two dump trucks based on a 10 hour day. It was noted a conveyor system is now used to load the trucks.

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