Apr 17, 2019 2 min read

MARIANNA – An insurance company has dropped a policy covering the aging Marianna dam, following an industry trend to avoid liability on such structures, the borough council president said.

The borough also has been unable to find another insurance company to cover the dam, which is expected to be removed from Ten Mile Creek by environmentalists later this year, council President Wes Silva said.

“The insurance company isn’t going to continue covering it,” he said, referring to the borough’s carrier, Higbee Insurance, which will still hold borough policies on vehicles and other properties.

Local efforts to save the dam continue after the borough in December 2017 signed an agreement with American Rivers to remove the century-old structure and restore the creek’s banks at no cost to taxpayers.

The low-head dam, which creates dangerous currents for swimmers, was built to provide a water source for the town and long-defunct Marianna mine.

The borough-owned dam no longer serves a purpose. The DEP has said a dam failure would not pose a safety risk because there are no occupied buildings directly below the stream’s flow.

The $200,000 American Rivers project was expected to be in the design phase during the spring.

Silva said the loss of insurance should be another reminder to the public to stay away from the dam.

He said video surfaced last year on social media showing a family jumping from the dam into the overflow area.

“I would not want to take the chance,” he said.