New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan is standing behind his decision earlier this month to authorize emergency work at a low-head dam that’s been tied up in challenges for the past three years. His statement came days after the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District issued cease and desist orders on any further work and called for the dam to be restored to its previous state.
The Corps issued the orders last Tuesday for “unauthorized and unlawful activity” which goes against the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and the Clean Water Act, according to a news release.
They say the work was done without permitting and must be reversed, but that before doing so, plans on restoration would need to be submitted to the Corps within 30 days.
Gahan issued a statement Friday defending the unpermitted work he directed earlier this month, in which crews placed rock fill in front of the Providence Mill Dam, also known as the Glenwood Park Dam.
He said Aug. 2 he was authorizing the “emergency maintenance” to eliminate the hydraulic roller effect produced by the dam, which can be deadly. In May, 14-year-old Andre “AJ” Edwards Jr. drowned there.
In his Friday release, Gahan attributed Edwards’ death to the dam, the removal of which the city has fought for three years. He has said he wants to modify it instead. Gahan signed executive orders Aug. 4 declaring a state of emergency and directing the work to be done.
“Now, outside agencies are asking that we remove the fill,” Gahan said in the statement. “They are asking us to recreate a dangerous situation where someone else can lose their life. They are asking us to restore the dam to an unmaintained and dangerous condition.”
The release also includes an undated, unattributed historical photo of the dam with rocks in front of it, much like what the city recently had placed.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources also stepped in, telling crews to stop the work and issuing the mayor with a class B infraction for directing the work without a state permit.
A Floyd County Clerk’s Office employee said Monday that infraction is being handled through Harrison County.
Indiana DNR has also asked a judge to stop the city from doing any more work at the dam and to remove the rocks placed there. The city has not yet responded to that filing, and a judge has not yet ruled on the matter, according to online court records.
According to the DNR complaint, city attorney Shane Gibson told the agency Gahan had authority to order the work without a state permit, and provided an executive order Gahan signed Sunday, Aug. 4, declaring a state of emergency.
The future of the dam has been in flux for several years. In 2021, EcoSystems Connections Institute, LLC, was granted a permit by Indiana DNR to remove the more than 100-year-old structure. They were acting as a contractor for River Heritage Conservancy, the group overseeing plans for Origin Park in Southern Indiana. The conservancy supports removing the dam to make the creek safer.
The city has challenged that at the state and local level. In November, a judge found the permit complies with state statute, which was upheld by a state committee. The city has since asked a Floyd County judge to review that judge’s decision. Oral arguments were held earlier this month, and the judge has taken it under advisement.
River Heritage has continued to call for the dam’s removal.
“We're disappointed that the mayor has continued to fight the removal of the low-head dam but we will continue to trust in the legal process to do what we know is right and what's safest for the community, and that's the removal of the low-head dam,” River Heritage spokesperson Eswine said Monday.
In his statement, Gahan said the area is used by thousands of people each year for swimming, fishing or enjoying nature, and that a full removal would be “a disservice to those people who utilize this area regularly.”
There have been 200 comments as of Monday afternoon on the city’s release posted on Facebook. Many are critical of the city’s attempts to stop the dam’s removal, while others support the mayor’s actions.
One commenter called the situation “completely ridiculous,” and said the dam “was classified a drowning machine for years before the Gahan administration put up a billboard encouraging children to play on it,” it reads, in part.
That commenter also said he hopes Edwards’ mother, who is seeking $700,000 from the city for his death, is successful and that “Gahan and supporting council members are held financially and criminally responsible as individuals rather than forcing the public to pay for their ongoing absurd posturing.”
Another person called for thousands of people to come together to protest against the state and federal agencies fighting the mayor on the dam work.
“For months [Gahan] has tried to get it fixed,” the comment states in part. “He is doing his job that we are paying him to do. So let's stand together and demand a fix that does not remove the dam but makes it safe.”
It’s not clear how much the city has spent in court costs to fight the dam’s removal.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
