DCNR to address Duke Lake restoration
WAYNESBURG – The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary will be at Ryerson Station State Park later this week to update the public on the agency’s plans to restore Duke Lake.
Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn will speak at 11 a.m. Friday in the park’s visitation center to explain where the permitting process currently stands to rebuild the lake’s dam that was damaged a decade ago from mining in the area.
Tests were performed near the dam to determine if the structure can be rebuilt in order for the lake, which was drained in 2005, can be restored and refilled with water. Crews began removing sediment from the marshy lake bed earlier this year and trucking it to reclaim a 70-acre coal waste site in Mather.
DCNR spokeswoman Christina Novak declined to divulge what the testing revealed and that more information would be available Friday morning.
“We’re going to share whether the dam can be repaired,” Novak said. “There is work being done to remove the sediment. We have additional info to the permitting process. We think it’s a good opportunity to reinvigorate community involvement with where we’re at with the park and providing recreational opportunities.”
DCNR has to dredge the lake bed before it can rebuild the dam and refill Duke Lake. However, there is no timeline on when a permit might be issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection to begin reconstruction of the dam.
“As part of our permitting process, we have done some additional monitoring in the area of the dam and we’ll be providing some information on the results,” Novak said. “We’re talking to the community on how to move forward.”
Friday’s session is not intended to be public hearing, Novak said, although community representatives are encouraged to attend. She added the news conference in the visitors’ center will not be able to accommodate a large crowd.
Duke Lake has been dry for the past decade after inspections revealed expanding cracks in the concrete dam in 2005. The DEP determined the damage was caused by subsidence from Consol Energy’s Bailey Mine that burrows beneath the park, although the company denies being at fault. The state and Consol reached a settlement in 2013 to end litigation that will result in the rebuilding of the dam.