- Two companies have expressed interest in the dormant Pucker Street Dam. (File photo)
Legal questions may put snag in Pucker St. Dam plans
Published 8:21pm Thursday, July 8, 2010Niles Daily Star
Plans to possibly reactivate the Pucker Street Dam in Niles may have hit a roadblock with legal questions about the city’s agreement with Indiana Michigan Power and requirements from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
Just last week, two companies – Peterson Machinery Sales in Casa Grande, Ariz. and Hope Renewable Energy LLC out of Grand Rapids – came before the city council and outlined proposals to either purchase or lease the long-dormant dam on the Dowagiac River for electrical generation.
But Niles City Administrator Terry Eull says the city has to look into some legal issues with I&M before taking action.
“We have to answer a bunch of legal questions with I&M about what we can or cannot do,” Eull said regarding the contract the city has with the electric company.
Eull is unsure if their agreement allows the city to purchase power from an outside provider.
But Eull said attorneys may not even get too involved in those discussions should DNRE requirements end the possibility of reactivating the dam.
“If the DNR would require a number of items, it may make the questions about I&M a non-issue,” Eull said.
Jay Wesley, a representative of the DNRE’s fisheries division in Plainwell, Mich., said the state would recommend the use of a fish ladder during the project to allow the fish to move upstream over or around the dam.
Fish ladders cost about $250,000 per foot, and Wesley estimates it would cost the City of Niles $3.5 million, which would all but end the possibility of reactivating the dam.
A fish ladder would be needed, according to Wesley, because the work on the dam would obstruct fish paths and could affect their populations. Wesley said fish ladders are often needed at larger facilities, and one is employed on the St. Joseph River in Berrien County.
Wesley also said the DNRE would have to make sure the project does not affect water quality or temperatures and would need to ensure that fish do not come in contact with turbines.
But it has long been the recommendation of the DNRE that the city remove the dam altogether.
“We’ve done a lot of studies of the river,” Wesley said. “We have recommended dam removal because of the natural resource benefits it would create.”
Eull said dam removal would be a time-consuming and expensive project, but grants might make it possible.
He plans to discuss the situation with the DNRE in the near future
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