Lock and Dam No. 5 Removal To Resume This Summer, EC Water District is Optimistic With Presented Solution

Plus: What Is In Our Water?

Crews working on the removal of Lock #5 in Roundhill, September of 2021. (photo: Mike Wilkinson)

Darren Doyle, story:
The removal of Lock and Dam No. 5, which was halted in July of 2022, is scheduled to proceed sometime this May or June, according to a statement from the USACE Louisville District, in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

The project, which began in September of 2021, was temporarily stopped due to dangerously low levels in the Green River that wreaked havoc on the Edmonson County Water District's (ECWD) intake, pumping, and treatment facilities. The removal of the dam was the cause of the low water levels.

The ECWD has been at a loss since the dam removal began, because they say they had nothing to do with the problem and don't have the funding to provide solutions. Until a meeting yesterday with USACE and other officials and agencies, no real solution had been provided to the ECWD.

“Despite not having a water supply mission on the Green River, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers has worked collaboratively with our local, state, federal and inter-agency partners for nearly two years to understand any potential impacts, and we are committed to continuing to assist Edmonson County Water District as they develop both interim and long-term solutions to their water supply challenges,” said Louisville District Commander Col. L. Reyn Mann. “After years of discussion, immediate action is now required. Lock and Dam 5 is nearly 100-years old and has exceeded its service life, posing a great safety risk. Dam removal will improve public safety, increase recreation opportunities, and enhance aquatic habitat as it will restore free-flowing conditions to 73 miles of the Green River. We are encouraged by ECWD’s efforts today. Their passion for supplying water to the local community is evident. We applaud their board for taking meaningful steps toward a solution.”

Boat access to the Green River in Brownsville and the surrounding area has been non-existent since the removal of Lock and Dam No. 5. Without boat access, many locals would argue that "increased recreation opportunities" won't happen. Not being able to put a fishing boat in the river would likely make an enhanced "aquatic habitat" a moot point.

While the recreational affects of the complete dam removal remain to be seen, ECWD Commissioner Greg Nugent says the district is optimistic after yesterday's meeting, where a viable permanent solution was presented by the USACE.

"The Corps had originally given us four options and we looked at all of them," Nugent said. "We responded and chose an option that would create a rock dam, much like the one in Bowling Green in the Barren River, but then they told us they couldn't do that because it would raise the water levels too much. I mean, they gave us that as an option, then said they couldn't because of a new study they had done."

Nugent has been vocal about the USACE and other agencies leaving the solutions to the problem up to the district.

"But we didn't create this problem, and we certainly don't have the funding to come up with one, but I told them yesterday that this was the first time we've had a guarantee that we'd still have water with the dam completely removed and they agreed. They said they found a deep pool that will always hold water."

The presented solution would be to pump water from the pool into a newly-constructed water tower that is up the river near the old Lock and Dam No. 6 location.

"Basically, gravity flows into that tower and then we pump it out of the tower into the treatment plant," said Nugent.

Funding is still an issue, but Nugent said the district was hopeful that federal and possibly state money could be received in order to take care of the costs. He was very complimentary on the action that Representative Brett Guthrie's office has offered to the district.

Congressman Guthrie's Office sent a statement to the Edmonson Voice today.

“Yesterday, the Edmonson County Water Board met and welcomed a collaborative discussion between Col. L. Reyn Mann and her team from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Nature Conservancy, and other key community stakeholders. Although work remains, I am pleased with the progress from the meeting and I know these ongoing discussions are critical to ensuring a both a short and long-term solution is reached as quickly and efficiently as possible. My team and I will continue to work with all the parties involved to collaborate and generate solutions which will benefit all residents of Kentucky’s Second district."

Nugent also applauded the group that is working on the solution, which include engineers and permit agents from the Corps, along with a new colonel that seemed very engaged, according to Nugent.

"The Corps of Engineers and the Nature Conservancy have come up with a viable solution if we can get the funding," he said. "The locks are coming out, that's what they said, so we have to look at the next step."

So, what's in our water?
While a solution to the water supply issue is finally on the horizon, another question that many are asking is simply, what is in our water? With regular boil water advisories and many reports of discolored water over the past year, several local residents want to know more. A Facebook post from a Chalybeate resident had many taking a second look and a second thought at what exactly we're drinking and using.

Facebook photo from Jenny Turley of Chalybeate, after letting a faucet drip on this gray cloth for five days.

Jenny Turley posted photos to her Facebook account this morning about a discovery she made at her home. During the cold spell last week, she let a bathroom faucet trickle to prevent frozen pipes and placed a gray wash cloth in the bottom of the sink to mute the dripping sound. According to her post, after one day of drips, the gray cloth had been bleached out. After five days of the drip, the entire cloth had bleached spots all over, ruining the cloth. The entire post is below:

Mrs. Turley does not claim to be an expert on water quality, however, after losing family members to cancer, she said she was prompted into looking into the removal of potential harmful substances from her home several years ago, as she shared her thoughts with the Edmonson Voice.

"Eight years ago I started asking more questions, I wanted to know more about what causes sickness, cancer, health issues etc. This was a direct result of loss, I lost my sister to Triple negative breast cancer," said Turley. "This started me on a journey on how to get toxic chemicals out of my home.  Little did I know how far and deep this dive would take me over the years."

Her concern with local water was, with a simple cloth being bleached out from a dripping faucet, what levels are actually safe to drink?

"It was explained to me that we have a compromised water level in our river and the source of water requires more chemicals to make our water safe to consume," she said. "The “science” behind the amount that is safe is supposed to keep us safe and make our water consumable.  I have real questions about the safety of those increased chemicals in our water.  How much is too much? There can be lethal levels of toxins in water such as chlorine, metals, plastics, microbes, pesticides, prescription meds, fluoride etc. How many chemicals are being used to make our water “safe” to drink. "

"We need help," she continued. "Our government will not help us or any other community get cleaner water.  So many other communities across the U.S. have sounded the alarm and to what end?  Filtering our water is the best way to help prevent these poisons from entering our body.  Not only do we drink it, we shower in it, wash our babies in it and cook with it. Our skin in our largest organ, it takes 29 seconds for our skin to absorb what touches it."

We asked Commissioner Nugent about the bleached cloth and Mrs. Turley's post and comments. Nugent said that while the lower volume of water has resulted in a more concentrated treatment process, the water is still safe to drink.

"We have to send in water samples all the time and we continually do that," said Nugent. "The water, due to the river level, has been more difficult to treat, because of the dilution factor has gone down. We don't have as much water volume, so it's been more difficult, but our water is checked to determine whether or not it's safe. We've had to use more chemicals to treat the water out of the river, but that's to keep it safe to drink. Those samples are sent to the lab, and all this is governed by the Division of Water."

The Division of Water (DOW) is responsible for regulating public water systems to ensure public health protection.

Mrs. Turley is one that is not in favor of the extra treating, because she's not convinced that the treatment itself is safe; however, the ECWD says that it is. Below is a document available from the ECWD, that explains what is tested in our water.

"I have received several letters from our local water district months after the fact, telling me that the water didn’t meet their standards.  Three or four months before that letter my water was contaminated. Three or four months ago?? So, I have consumed unsafe water, now what?" Turley said.

It is important to note that while the water might not have met standards, it does not mean it wasn't safe to drink. There were also several comments in the Facebook thread from others using other county and city water sources, not just in Edmonson, that had similar complaints.

"I have lost my father, sister, neighbors to cancer," she said. "Is it connected to the water? Is it connected to our environment, food, cleaning supplies? Doesn’t it all wind up in the river, only to be filtered into our drinking water? Questions I ask myself as I keep looking for answers, all while filtering my water, researching, asking questions and looking for answers."

In the document are a lot ppms and ppbs, along with mg/L and a lot of other info most people don't understand; however, others like Mrs. Turley, have very strong opinions and have sought out their own filtration methods and systems, but according to the district and the DOW, local water is safe to drink.

Bleached washcloths --or the treatment that causes them-- can also be added to the long list of problems that shouldn't be happening as a result of the failed dam removal.