Hearing Thursday to Address Glade Run Lake Concerns

Complaints about the unexpected draining of — and the loss of thousands of fish --- have prompted state officials to schedule a public meeting for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Middlesex Township Municipal Building.

Representatives of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will talk about the status of the popular 52-acre impoundment, which was drawn down earlier this month after water was discovered seeping from the embankment.

Thousands of fish were salvaged and moved to Lake Arthur, but thousands more died in escalating temperatures -- raising a stink in more ways than one.

“People were taken aback that the lake was drawn down, but once we explained that the dam was unsafe, the locals got that part of it,” said Gary Moore, the fish and boat commission’s legislative liaison.

“But the No. 1 complaint was the smell of dead fish and other decaying matter at the bottom of the lake. It was a tremendous odor. We’re still hearing about that.”

The commission, as well as state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, and state Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, continue to field questions about the future of the dam, and sources of funding to fix it.

Glade Run has been on a list of ‘high hazard’ dams in need of repair for almost a decade, but it has remained open to the many anglers and boaters who use it every year. It was considered safe until this past May, when a routine inspection revealed infrastructure problems, Moore said. 

The original plan was to lower the lake by about 10 feet --- enough to take pressure off the dam and still maintain bass, crappies, bluegills, catfish, carp and other species. Some of those fish were moved to Lake Arthur and to North Park Lake in June.

But the partial drawdown didn’t work as planned, according to fish and boat commission biologist Tim Wilson. The remaining fish wouldn’t have survived the rest of the summer, he said.

“Once we got down 10 feet, we realized there was so much sediment, we were left with a 4-acre pond that was 5-feet deep max,” Wilson said. “Trying to maintain a fish community in conditions like that through the hottest months of the year would be disastrous. We’d have had a mega-fish kill.

“So, it was save some of the remaining fish or save none. We saved as many as we could.”

Those that were lost evaded capture, Wilson said.

“Some fish instinctively refused to leave the dam and beached themselves. I compare it to minnows in a bucket. If you start to pour out the water, fish will try to remain in the bucket as long as they can. It’s the same with a lake.”

Wilson said he and his crew tried to clean up the dead fish, but got mired in mud up their thighs.

“It just wasn’t humanly possible,” he said. “The worst of it was a week later when the fish stank. We got complaints. The township got complaints. We took a beating on some websites.”

Glade Run-area property owner David Fowler has joined a network of locals who hope Thursday’s meeting will focus on restoring Glade Run, a prospect with a $4 million price tag. Although he works in Texas, he plans to retire to his home on the lake. He said money spent fixing the dam would be a wise investment for the area.

“That lake is a little gem,” said Fowler, who is organizing Friends of Glade Run to muster support for renovations. “There are nesting bald eagles, nesting ospreys, and you can catch some big fish there.

“The lake generates about $1.2 million in local revenue a year, so it’s a real asset to the community.”

Moore said his agency also considers the lake a treasure, but it doesn't have the budget to make repairs to Glade Run or any of the 15 other ‘high hazard’ dams around the state. Those dams include the two Hereford Manor lakes, which also are closed.

When dams are getting fixed -- such as Leaser Lake in Lehigh County and Possum Lake in Cumberland County -- it’s because citizens have pushed elected officials, and private-public partnerships have formed to generate funds, Moore said.

“We’re hoping to see grassroots support for Glade Run Lake, too.”

Mike Sarfert, an aide to Orie, acknowledged that the senator’s constituents have expressed an interest in restoring the lake.

“Whether there’s local support from the county commissioners and anyone else who can step up and solve the problem, we’ll see,” he said.