Musky dam

[bucky]

12 minutes ago, Kype said:

have you fished back there? i meant to last spring but then broke my foot. i guess i could park at the abandoned factory there on 519 and starting walking/fishing upstream to the dam? 

Yes, believe or not a club use to volunteer for the state and they float stock that section, we found some access points but it was still chore to get in there. They also drove into the mill above 519 and stocked, on stocking days all the mill workers would watch us fish from the big windows and give us the thumbs up. Now my niece owns the farm at the end of Shackletown Road so the gorge is in her back yard, easy access on the quad

Edited March 10, 2021 by bucky

[Kype]

4 minutes ago, bucky said:

Yes, believe or not a club use to volunteer for the state and they float stock that section, we found some access points but it was still chore to get in there. They also drove into the mill above 519 and stocked, on stocking days all the mill workers would watch us fish from the big windows and give us the thumbs up. Now my niece owns the farm at the end of Shackletown Road so the gorge is in her back yard, easy access on the quad

"take me fishing, the memories will last a life time"

[bucky]

Sorry bro, that gorge is a young mans game but I can give you some pointers, the river goes through a tunnel under the railroad tracks that is very long so you have to go up and over the tracks which is about 100 foot straight up climb to continue down stream  Kayak would be best

Edited March 10, 2021 by bucky

[formakos]

Last time I tried to park at the mill and walk up to the dam I was summarily asked to stay out by the security guard.  Don't know if they still have one on site of not???

[Bucksnbows]

The property is posted and patrolled. There was a teen death I think by suicide at the old Regal paper mill and the state got on IPPE who owns the other two mills to keep the public out until all infrastructure can be removed over time. 
 

I have permission to access the entire site and drive up to the dam and used to be there regularly. The fishing between the dam and the railroad tunnel is not very good because it is just fine sediment and no cobbles or deep holes for the most part. You will see carp in there but not a lot of trout. Once the dam is removed, it will rival any big trout water anywhere in the state. 

[bucky]

34 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

The fishing between the dam and the railroad tunnel is not very good because it is just fine sediment and no cobbles or deep holes for the most part.

Correct the water is dead from the trestle down to the dam

Edited March 11, 2021 by bucky

[Bucksnbows]

18 hours ago, MS22 said:

So after finding funding and going through the permitting/ bidding process, it would still take a further 3 years just to reach a point where the we could begin destruction of the actual dam itself? 
 

wow...

Yup, Mike, that was the plan back when we hoped NJ would allow IPPE to set up both properties as mitigation sites where they could sell mitigation shares and use the funds to restore the river and remove the infrastructure once and for all.  But NJ said "no need for mitigation bank in that part of the state", so the dam remains intact with the state (Division of F&W) owning half the spillway and therefor half of the liability for when it fails catastrophically one day.  But it is in poor condition and of significant hazard to downstream properties, so pressure continues to mount to remove it.  

[Bucksnbows]

1 minute ago, bucky said:

Correct the water is dead from the trestle down to the dam

Everyone that knows the dam and the site all believe they left all of the huge boulders in place when they built the dam and flooded that Gorge.  With the sediment largely removed, it should have some spectacular habitat underneath it all!  

[bucky]

Hopefully some day in our lifetime we will be able to see it

[Bucksnbows]

2 minutes ago, bucky said:

Hopefully some day in our lifetime we will be able to see it

From your lips......

Six years ago when I walked away from this project when it became clear to all parties involved that we had a significant roadblock in Trenton not wanting to expand mitigation banking here in NJ even though this was a perfect candidate, the price tag we figured was about $40 million.  That's about $30 million in costs with a $10 million profit over 3 - 4 years.  That included removal of both the Hughesville and Warren Glen dams and both paper mills and all associated infrastructure like the sewer plant, cooling tower, power lines, etc.  The Hughesville Paper Mill is now bulldozed and the dam that fed that mill is also removed.  That was the 12' tall dam just downstream of the Warren Glen mill where route 519 crosses into Hunterdon from Warren.  So the $40 million price tag would be somewhat less now. 

[BowhunterNJ]

What is mitigation banking and why would they not want to expand it?  Any reason other than the cost?  The potential for catastrophic failure and pending liability would seem to be a red flag to invest now, quite possible the damage to the downstream properties, as well as the environmental impact of all that sediment getting washed downstream/distributed would far exceed the cost of addressing it now when you have an opportunity and it's all concentrated in one area.

[hammer4reel]

32 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

From your lips......

Six years ago when I walked away from this project when it became clear to all parties involved that we had a significant roadblock in Trenton not wanting to expand mitigation banking here in NJ even though this was a perfect candidate, the price tag we figured was about $40 million.  That's about $30 million in costs with a $10 million profit over 3 - 4 years.  That included removal of both the Hughesville and Warren Glen dams and both paper mills and all associated infrastructure like the sewer plant, cooling tower, power lines, etc.  The Hughesville Paper Mill is now bulldozed and the dam that fed that mill is also removed.  That was the 12' tall dam just downstream of the Warren Glen mill where route 519 crosses into Hunterdon from Warren.  So the $40 million price tag would be somewhat less now. 

Just get some dynamite. And boom all gone lol. Let the water and nature take over 

[Haskell_Hunter]

38 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

Just get some dynamite. And boom all gone lol. Let the water and nature take over 

The sediment would kill everything downstream for years as it moves into the Delaware.

[bucky]

1 hour ago, hammer4reel said:

Just get some dynamite. And boom all gone lol. Let the water and nature take over 

Lets hook up and give it a try

[hammer4reel]

39 minutes ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

The sediment would kill everything downstream for years as it moves into the Delaware.

Do it during a flood , dust goes to the top foot of moving water .

will help fill in the Delaware bay