A "sterilized" Erie Canal?

That is according to Ms Maier, co founder of the Stop The Clear Cut group (STCC).

Read her post in the Rochester Beacon here  https://rochesterbeacon.com/2022/12/21/nycc-still-wants-to-sterilize-erie-canal-embankments/

And here is my reply (You may prefer to read the attached pdf file for this reply, as it has active links to relative documents etc.)

There is so much to take issue with Ms Maier's comments here, as once more the truth is obscured by her and the Stop The Clear Cut (STCC) group.

Her 'Citizen Group' was founded by people who have no dam engineering knowledge or qualifications, and certainly do not understand, or want to understand, the incredible danger that over a thousand people live under. They state that trees have never actually caused a breech in the Erie Canal Earthen Embankment Dams, but that is hardly the point, they have caused problems World wide. FEMA, USDA, US Army Corps of Engineers, Association of State Dam Safety officials, NYDEC and others all state quite categorically, no trees on a dam.

Please compare NYPA engineer David Mellen's resume on Linked in
This is a good example of the qualifications of the staff running the Canal Corporation.

It states "accomplished leader with years of operational and engineering experience including design, construction, and maintenance; advanced degree in construction engineering and management; licensed Professional Engineer, State of New York." and then look at the lack of qualifications of the founders of the STCC.

Their only 'qualifications' are obscuring the truth, and coming up with catchy words and phrases, like 'shade is cool' and 'sterilized embankments' etc.
Their most amusing phrase is 'Natural vegetation' referring to the brush and one hundred and fifty feet tall Cottonwoods infesting the embankment dam slopes. There is nothing 'natural' about it, most of the weeds growing are on the NYS illegal plants list.

Their 'legally required environmental review process' (what a joke that statement is) was ordered because Dr. Donald Grey submitted testimony to a Lyons court, stating that trees were desirable on an embankment. He had never even visited the site to see for himself. When I questioned him about this, he recanted his statement because he was NOT told the trees in question were on an earthen embankment dam.
 
READ >>>  https://eriecanalfacts.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/testimony-in-question-vegetation-on-dams/

Note also, the statement from Dr David Rosgen, a hydrologist, who the STCC. contacted to gain support. They applied the same 'trick' forgetting to mention the subject was a dangerous, badly maintained earthen embankment dam. When this was pointed out to him, he recanted his original statements. The STCC conveniently want to forget this.

READ >>> https://ecna.createaforum.com/general-discussion/important-announcement-coming-soon/msg185/#msg18

To make matters worse, the canal system was 'designed by amateurs' who had little knowledge of dam design. The United States didn’t have a single college of engineering or any native-born engineers. So we are working with a poorly designed embankment system, further troubled by a complete lack of maintenance.

An obvious design flaw is the steepness of the slopes of the embankment dams. It is well established now that the length of the base of the outboard slope should be two to three times the height, and in many cases here there is less than a one to one ratio. Along the section between 31F and the Oxbow, there is a vertical drop off, even if there was no vegetation, one could not walk down the slope. There is not enough dirt holding up the dam wall. This makes the Phreatic Line susceptible to breaking out and the dam breaching.

Neglect and a lack of funding has allowed huge cottonwoods to grow on these already compromised slopes. They weigh hundreds of tons each and are growing at around five feet each year, some being one hundred and fifty feet tall. They are huge 'sails' in the wind, made worse by the bittersweet vines in the canopy, and are renowned for dropping limbs and being uprooted, leaving huge holes, of which there are many along the canal.
Inspections are virtually impossible, because the undergrowth is so dense. When the area west of Pittsford was cleaned up to allow inspections, they found an additional two hundred leaks. Property owners living under the dams report sump pumps continually running. The dams leak!

Many members of the STCC still do not understand the difference between a dam and a levee.

They try to apply levee 'rules' to dams, and only because trees are an asset on a levee.

There is a reluctance by Mrs Maier. to use the word ‘DAM’ because she knows the rules about dams, so its conveniently left out. Unfortunately, this makes it appear that all embankments along the canal will be just grass, and that simply is not true. An 'Embankment Dam' impounds water and cannot have trees, an 'embankment ' does not have the force of water pressure behind it, and can have trees.

Local Authorities have allowed many buildings, entire villages, to be constructed in the shadows of these dams. It is these people we should all be concerned about, and if you look at the STCC membership, you'll find very few of them living under the threat of flood, they're all above the flood hazard zone.

We, the Erie Canal Neighbors Association, have approached numerous politicians who initially were supportive of the STCC, and once the facts have been presented, many of them have fallen silent in their support. The mayor of Pittsford, a supporter of the STCC was voted out of office recently. What these politicians realised was there is a real danger of people drowning and millions of dollars worth of property ruined.
 
When certified engineers tell you there is a problem with trees on a dam - A SAFETY PROBLEM - don't you think you should listen and follow their advice?


Michael Caswell

www.eriecanalfacts.wordpress.com
www.ecna.us
https://ecna.createaforum.com/index.php

Attached is a copy of this post, but with many expandable links.