The CDT has an article today on the impending removal of the McCoy Dam midway between Bellefonte and Milesburg. Having kayaked Spring Creek, I can say that the Dam was a major pain in the ass, and I’m happy to see it go.

Though, I do have to say that it’s an interesting site due to its age, so maybe go visit it while you can.

The plans have been on the table for a few years now to remove it and turn it into a creek access point. With the removal of the dam, this stretch of Spring Creek will become a rapid four foot drop in the creek level which means it will turn into a popular spot for whitewater paddlers and playboaters. The plans also include putting in some parking as, right now, the site is accessible only by either paddling to it from farther up the creek (from the Sunnyside Paddle Park) or by parking on the road and walking a narrow dirt path down to the site.

Residents downstream express concern about the increased sediment that will flow once the dam is removed, but what they should really be worried about is all of the garbage that has piled up in the water to the sides of the dam from the variety of local fishermen who frequent that location. McCoy Dam has been very popular as a fishing spot as trout swim upstream and are blocked in at the foot of the dam. This actually is a bad thing for the trout population, but a very good thing for fishing enthusiasts looking for an easy catch (all fish caught at this location must be thrown back).

I’m really looking forward to seeing this spot developed into something useful. As it is now, most people don’t even know it exists. If you drive by, you’ll see the top half of what was the generator station and not see anything else. It isn’t until you climb down there that you see the rest of it and see the dilapidated state it is in.

As for the kayakers and canoeists who actually run the dam… they’re nuts.

And now, because the CDT archives stuff far too soon, here is the article in full:

Controversial removal of McCoy’s Dam to begin soon

By Adam Smeltz - asmeltz@centredaily.com

Nabil K. Mark

The McCoy Dam Generating Station between Bellefonte and Milesburg is going to be torn down.

Just about a mile up Spring Creek from Milesburg, crews are expected to begin next month the long-anticipated, much-debated removal of McCoy’s Dam.

The 20-foot-high dam, built 81 years ago by entrepreneur John McCoy, once generated electricity for the area. Now owned by the state Fish and Boat Commission, the structure poses public safety and liability concerns for the state, Scott Carney said this month.

“The dam serves no functional purpose anymore,” said Carney, a chief in the commission’s division of habitat management. “And despite having signage posted where people cannot recreate because of safety issues, we continue to have kayakers going over it, people fishing below it.

“It’s not a safe condition,” Carney said.

In Milesburg, some residents have thought of the dam as a guard against flooding — a problem that’s worsened in recent years. Some also have voiced worry that the dam removal could release sediment that’s caught behind the dam, perhaps including contaminants such as Kepone and Mirex.

“We’re at the point now where we know there’s no stopping it,” said Milesburg Borough Councilman Paul Bartley. “It’s kind of like a wait-and-see. That’s about the only recourse we have left at this point.”

Carney, however, said the dam has no ability to limit floods and, in fact, helps push the stream out of its banks upstream.

Comprehensive tests have found no toxic danger from the sediment that’s lodged behind the dam, he said. “The biggest thing we have to be careful to do,” Carney said, “is to remove the dam (so) that we minimize sediment transports downstream.”

A variety of organizations and agencies have joined forces to fund and support the removal project. The work itself, to be performed by a private contractor, is likely to last four to five weeks at most, Carney said.

He estimated that about $150,000 in state Growing Greener grants will support the effort. Additional money is expected from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($100,000), an Environmental Protection Agency program (about $75,000), the state Fish and Boat Commission ($40,000 to $50,000) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($20,000).

Other partners in the endeavor are the local Clearwater Conservancy group and the national American Rivers conservation organization. The state has been involved in more than 150 dam removals of this type since 1994, Carney said.

“We believe the impacts that the community will realize will all be positive,” said Katie Ombalski, conservation biologist at Clearwater.

The dam’s presence has slowed the water flow and widened the waterway, experts said. Removing the dam, Ombalski said, will improve a 2,000-foot stretch of the creek by boosting water quality, the fish habitat and other natural conditions.

Once the dam is gone, organizers said, they will create a more welcoming area for the public, including a public parking lot, canoe and kayak access, and signs that tell the history of the site. (The official approval process for the dam removal included authorization from the state Historical and Museum Commission.)

In time, Carney said, they may be able to build a bike or pedestrian trail that runs to Bellefonte via a former canal system.

Anne Brooks, of Bellefonte, isn’t convinced that the change is good. Her grandfather was John McCoy.

She estimated that it’s been 20 years or more since the Fish and Boat Commission received control of the dam from West Penn Power. (McCoy had sold the property to West Penn in earlier years.)

“They took it, and they didn’t have the resources to maintain it,” Brooks said, referring to the commission. “They shouldn’t have accepted it if they didn’t have the resources to maintain it.”

She alleged that the commission has allowed the dam to fall into disrepair. She told the commission that it could return the dam to the McCoy estate, she said.

“I’m just very sad that my grandfather’s hard work is going to go down the drain, and no one in future generations is even going to know it existed,” Brooks said.

Carney said the claim of poor maintenance was “totally incorrect.”

“It’s a liability risk because of its mere existence,” he said. “When you have canoers and kayakers going over it, it’s a liability.”

At the state Department of Environmental Protection, spokesman Charlie Young said the dam does not appear to be a risk of imminent failure, though nature has “taken, and will continue to take, its toll.”

” … The force of water and the added force of the accumulated sediments stored behind the dam on a daily basis cannot be taken lightly,” he wrote in an e-mail.

“This issue has not been the driving force for this (removal project),” Young said, “but the department views the removal of this aging dam as a very prudent measure.”