Oxbow Lake Embankment - Major Canal Seepage Issue Reported
A quick update on the Oxbow Lake Embankment Safety Issues:
In mid-2021 a major water seepage issues was discovered at the Toe of Slope on the Erie Canal Embankment Dam in the Town of Perinton, at the Oxbow wide waters.
As many know that earthen embankment dam is holding back the contents of the Oxbow Lake from flooding the Perinton community, some 60' below.
There is a video of the seepage included in this update
This Erie Canal seepage issue went unreported to the NY State Canal Corporation for nearly 5 months,!!!
That is because the Facebook Group member, who found this leak, did NOT want the general public or their local community to know, that the canal embankments were indeed UNSAFE and the NYS Canal Corporation was telling the truth about their Erie Canal integrity problem.
So the folks at the ECNA reported this leakage issue, along with the video that was posted by that Facebook group, to the Canal Corporation in November. They knew this area well, having made repairs there as number of times already.
The Canal Corporation immediately sent out a Maintenance Team to the site of the leak and they are now monitoring the seepage issue and are planning to address the public safety concern in Perinton soon. They will be looking for another solution to address this embankment leak, which may need to be fully cleared as part of the Earthen Embankment Program
This NEW seepage problem is EXACTLY where a 2018 Erie Canal Embankment repair was made. That repair used 500' of steel plate walls, as an emergency measure, to reinforce this earthen impoundment that was failing... read more here:
Oxbow Lake 2018 Embankment Repair
We are asking again, as we start 2022, please sign this petition to make Perinton NY and the surrounding communities, safe once again.
It's time to start talking about PUBLIC SAFETY along the Erie Canal and find was to fix the issue of unsafe earthen embankments in our community.
It's time to STOP finding more reasons to ignore the safety of Erie Canal Neighborhoods, and allow the NYS Canal Corporation to repair their public safety nightmare.
This Canal Embankment Integrity & Safety program is now becoming a "political issue" with all surrounding Town & Village Government bodies.
Quite a few local Mayors & Town Supervisors are listening to all the Facebook misinformation and choosing "people's votes" over "public safety", which goes against their oath to serve & protect the communities they serve.
It's also time to silence that Facebook Group in Perinton who thinks the SAFETY of the Community is something they can simply ignore, because they would rather talk about the environment, or shade, or fish & fowl.
Boycott Facebook's Stop the Canal Clear-cut Group
Thank you again for your time and help,
Erie Canal Neighbors Association