At the point where the road crosses the Reedy River there is a good view of the Historic Lake Conestee Dam which once powered Historic Conestee Mill. On LAKE CONESTEE DAM: All is good, and we don't yet see any particular damages to our 128 yr old dam from the big storm. Hargett adds that contemporary engineers marvel that this old stone masonry structure is still holding up so well – because, he says, this dam could last another 50 years … or blow apart by the time you’re done reading this sentence. Duke didn’t build the MGP on Bramlett Road. Hargett has asked DHEC to include a $185,000 proviso in its 2017-2018 budget to fund an engineering study that will help the foundation identify a long-term solution for the dam. So a few weeks ago I decided to head to the nature preserve. By Andrew Moore, The Greenville Journal. Hargett said the toxic sediment trapped behind the dam is responsible for the dam's poor rating. South Carolina Noname 23016 D-2876 Dam South Carolina Noname 23016 D-2876 Dam ist ein Damm in South Carolina.South Carolina Noname 23016 D-2876 Dam ist liegt westlich von Sunset Forest, nahe bei Conestee … “It’s a real situation with Lake Conestee,” he says. Lake Conestee Nature Park: Easy trails great for anyone - See 68 traveler reviews, 121 candid photos, and great deals for Conestee, SC, at Tripadvisor. Ryan Mosier who works in communications for Duke Energy said the company has been a part of "important conversations among many stakeholders in and near Greenville County concerning the future of Lake Conestee dam.". Should the dam break, whatever is behind it will wash through the remainder of Greenville County, through Laurens County, and find its way here. Two large Pileated woodpeckers and another heron at South Bay. (Greenville News) Civic Lake Conestee Dam- Reedy River - 10AM on 07 Feb 2020 Update 07 Feb 2020 - After the storm. Years of study by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and Duke Energy have concluded that a new wall, built in front of the existing one, is the best solution. This is the part that confused me. Students will discover these connections and more through three stations: History/Human Impact; Soil/Land; river morphology/impact of … The National Inventory of Dams lists the structure as a "significant" hazard potential. Lake Conestee Nature Park rebrands as a preserve, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy, Creation of new owner entity, transfer of properties and legal and administrative costs - $22 million. (SC standards: H.E.3B.2, … What’s bad about it is that if that dam, 75 years past its expiration date, gives out, 2.8 million tons of toxic sludge will make its way downriver. In the late 1800s, businesses in Greenville would typically flush their wastes into the Reedy River. If the dam were to fail, ReWa could most likely continue to discharge but would have more restrictions. "Everybody agrees we gotta do something now," Hargett said. Dave Hargett is the co-founder of the Conestee Foundation, a small nonprofit that owns the dam six miles south of Downtown Greenville. Credit Scott Morgan / South Carolina Public Radio. According to GuideStar, the Conestee Foundation reports $411,448 in gross receipts and holds assets of just over $3.6 million. He also says that a collapsed dam would not necessarily be a scene from a disaster movie this far downriver. Historic Lake Conestee and the Lake Conestee Dam are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with parts of Conestee Mill. I drove through some very questionable neighborhoods around the lake. Please update your bookmarks and links! It's been 20 years and four engineering studies since the Conestee Foundation bought the Lake Conestee site with state funds from the Colonial Pipeline settlement. Fishing and swimming at Lake Greenwood would cease while cleanup happened, Russian says; and public water would likely be contaminated. The Conestee Foundation’s Role. Follow Scott on Twitter @ByScottMorgan. The walk out to the dam at Lake Conestee is a short downhill/uphill, past the remains of an old mill that died decades ago. But Duke Energy, owner of a former MGP site on Bramlett Road in Greenville, is. It was a power generation system for an Industrial Age business that, like thousands of other dams in the United States, still stands, far beyond its intended lifespan. Von Mapcarta, die freie Karte. There are about 84,000 dams of various sizes and capacities in the United States; about 700 are managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is a partner agency with the Conestee Foundation. Nearly all those 700 dams are older than 30 years and overall. Lake Conestee Nature Preserve is a 406 acre state-designated Wildlife Sanctuary; a conservation space for wild things, a world apart. These, however, were not to be found. Lake Conestee Nature Park. In 2000, Hargett started the Conestee Foundation and used settlement funds from the Colonial Pipeline spill to purchase Lake Conestee and its dam. Historic Lake Conestee and the Lake Conestee Dam are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with parts of Conestee Mill. At least 214 bird species have been reported, and the National Audubon Societyhas designated th… Get directions, find nearby businesses and places, and much more. “Such insurance would be prohibitively expensive, especially to a small non-profit organization like Conestee Foundation,” Hargett wrote in an email. Hargett said he's confident he'll raise the money to complete the dam by the end of 2022, but ReWa CEO Graham Rich, a stakeholder in the dam project, said the completion date is ambitious. Zinc and copper. Conestee dam could spell disaster for the Reedy River, owner says. Contact Genna at gcontino@gannett.com or on Twitter @GennaContino. Photo by Ken Osborn, The Greenville News. It’s also only about 20 years younger. Hargett said $58.5 million would come from private entities, but he would not provide specifics. In the last ten years: We've gone from fewer than 20,000 visitors to roughly 120,000, or perhaps 150,000 or more per year. At the point where the road crosses the Reedy River there is a good view of the Historic Lake Conestee Dam which once powered Historic Conestee Mill. And if Hargett doesn't raise the funds for the dam? After being built in 1972, it was drained and refilled in 1975 for dam valve repair. These waste materials are remnants of more than a half-century of manufactured gas production and other industrial processes. The walk out to the dam at Lake Conestee is a short downhill/uphill, past the remains of an old mill that died decades ago. Russian oversees the maintenance of the dam at Lake Greenwood, about 50 miles south of Lake Conestee. Dave Hargett at the foot of Conestee Dam. Lake Ticoa. Share. The mill was a large employer in the area and turned a profit from it's opening until it closed in 1939. But it still worries him to think about a dam failure at Lake Conestee, and he says that the cost and time of cleanup would almost certainly demand federal and state help. The Swamp Rabbit Trail travels 21 miles across the Upstate, and in order to help families plan their excursions on the SRT we are offering this series on the different sections of the Swamp Rabbit Trail.The Swamp Rabbit Trail overview is a great place to start. Foggy morning on Conestee lake, SC - Duration: 1:27. aditya yerra 107 views. Listen to the story. “Because we didn’t contribute to the problem, I can’t see us contributing to the solution,” he says. The south end of Lake Conestee Nature Preserve is off Conestee Road. Leider sind an den von Ihnen gewählten Daten keine Touren oder Aktivitäten verfügbar. “When I looked an EPA official in the eye and told them the story, and used that number, he said, ‘No. McBee and his mechanical supervisor, an engineer and millwright from Scotland, John Adams, built the dam in 1840s. Even though there was a smaller dam, the new dam was built to increase power to the mill. Now, the Conestee Foundation, the nonprofit that purchased the lake property in 2000, is trying to prevent the dam’s failure. J B Greer Pond Dam D-2888 ist ein Damm in South Carolina. At some point they will.”. Much of the material ended up trapped by the sediment on the river’s floor; and when the sediment washed downriver, the dam at Conestee Lake would keep most of that sediment from heading all the way down the Reedy to Lake Greenwood and beyond. Owner: Lake Conestee dam must be replaced to prevent catastrophe. The Conestee dam, spillway and lake were built prior to 1976, but were enhanced in 1892. Conestee Mill Conestee Mill, Industriegebäude, ist in South Carolina.Conestee Mill ist liegt in der Nähe von Main Street Village, nahe bei South Carolina Noname 23016 D-2876 Dam. 1:27. Simply building a new wall and leaving it there is not all that has to happen. One thing’s for sure, the tiny, little nonprofit Conestee Foundation’s not going to pay for it.”, When asked if Greenville County would contribute financially to the project and its long-term maintenance, Council President Butch Kirven said in an email: “The process of finding a solution to the Conestee Dam is grinding on, but ends and means have to connect if anything is going to happen. It's too much liability.". Dogs must be leashed at … In the 1890s the existing mill building was constructed; and about 1892, the rock dam was raised to its present height, creating a lake of 130 acres (53 ha). By the early 1900’s the Reedy River had become very polluted due to unchecked industrial development. Hargett said simply cleaning up the toxic sediment isn't an option. Bamboo forest, Lake Conestee Nature Park, June 2019.jpg 3,456 × 2,304; 5.17 MB Natur- & Tierschutzgebiete. Lake Conestee Nature Park. The current dam was rated “poor” in condition by DHEC back in December + the inspection also noted seepage, deterioration, trash + woody debris. Duke would not provide an interview for this story, but did send a statement. Hargett said $6.5 million will come from public stakeholders, and $1 million of that was approved by a proviso by the South Carolina House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 19. Lake Conestee Nature Preserve consists of more than 400 areas of beauty. "It would be well over a billion dollars, a billion dollars to clean it up," Hargett said. The current dam that forms Lake Conestee was built in 1892. Once covering 130 acres, the lake slowly filled with sediment from industrial waste making the once vast body of water only about 90 percent of its original size. The foundation was also awarded a $200,000 grant from the EPA in 2011 to perform another major repair. Reedy River flowing at about 2,100 cfs, after yesterday's peak flow of 7,161 cfs. The current dam was rated “poor” in condition by DHEC back in December + the inspection also noted seepage, deterioration, trash + woody debris. It is also an Important Bird Area of Global Significance, a regionally recognized Birding Hotspot, and the Upstate Partner with Audubon-South Carolina. The date the first dam was built on the Reedy River is unknown, but by 1892, the demand for power had grown and the rock dam was raised to its present height, creating the 130 acre Lake Conestee. “It is work to own and operate a dam,” says Greenwood County Engineer Robert Russian. It took ownership of it in 1939, ran the plant until 1951, and then tore the buildings down. The new dam will cost $65 million + should be completed by the end of 2022. The dam at Lake Conestee in Greenville holds back a football stadium (or two) worth of contaminated sediment. Now, the Conestee Foundation, the nonprofit that purchased the lake property in 2000, is trying to prevent the dam’s failure. We look forward to additional study DHEC is planning to conduct and working with the groups involved on a plan that serves the long-term needs of all.”. 0:40. Some migrate here beginning in December. February 6. Hiking, biking, jogging and wildlife observation are permitted. South Carolina has more than 10,000 dams. By 1820, the village of Conestee had formed around the mill located there. While building a remarkable nature preserve, we've stayed on top of all of that, to assess the Site, and determine how to best manage it, and keep it safe for our use, and for wildlife. 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