Category Archives: Clary Lake Dam

09 July 2020: Aquafortis Associates Files Combined Reply Brief

On Thursday July 9, 2020 Aquafortis Associates, LLC [AQF] filed their reply brief in the matter of AQF v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection [BEP] Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-4, it being an appeal of a Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] Order issued in December 2018 transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association. AQF filed their initial brief on May 29th of this year; their reply brief is a combined reply to both the BEP’s brief filed on June 19th and the Clary Lake Association’s brief filed on June 25th. This latest document includes 52 pages but there are a number of attachments; the actual reply brief itself is actually only 16 pages long:

Now that AQF’s petition has been fully briefed, the next step is up to the Court. The judge may schedule a hearing for oral arguments or he may just issue a ruling. I have no idea what to expect or when to expect it. I’m going to refrain from further comment at this time.

15 October 2019: Minor Repairs to Clary Lake Dam Completed

20191015_105109_compressedLast spring when the water level reached the top of the Clary Lake dam we discovered a few leaks that were missed during major repairs last fall. There were three gaps between stones near the south end of the dam by the red building, obscured by vegetation, and one small hole at the north end of the dam. At the time we just used sandbags to staunch the flow and made plans to repair the leaks properly this fall when the lake level was down.

We began the fall draw down back in mid-September and as of today the lake was 1 foot below the HWM, plenty low enough to allow us to make the repairs. Two bags of high strength Quickrete mortar mix and an hour and a half and we were done. Many thanks to Dam Operations Committee members Dave Knight and Steve Cowles for helping out with this project! Here are a few pictures from this morning’s work:

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08 July 2019: Aquafortis Associates LLC Appeals BEP Ruling

In a move that defies understanding, Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) has decided to appeal the June 6th Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) ruling denying their appeal of the DEP transfer of the Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association (see “06 June 2019: BEP Denies AQF Appeal“). This new Petition for Review of Final Agency Action, Docket No. AP-2019-TBA, was filed today in Kennebec County Superior Court by counsel for AQF Dennis Carrillo. Mr. Carrillo has represented Richard Smith and AQF in both the Paul Kelley Bankruptcy proceeding and the Rubin/Ayer lawsuit. The petition names the Board of Environmental Protection as the Defendant and they will be doing the heavy lifting in this court case. The Clary Lake Association has been named a Party-In-Interest. I am not going to comment further until I’ve had a chance to read the Petition carefully. Without further palaver:

Stay Tuned!

06 June 2019: BEP Denies AQF Appeal

Winning!In a decision that should come as a surprise to no one, the Board of Environmental Protection after listening to comments from Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] and others, summarily denied AQF’s appeal of the December 2018 DEP Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association. The Board also denied several parties requests for a public hearing. So the DEP Transfer Order stands.

The information-gathering portion of the hearing lasted over 2 hours, the bulk of which was used by attorney for AQF Dennis Carrillo to explain and justify AQF’s appeal; this was a non-testimonial hearing and the record was closed which means all of AQF’s attempts to supplement the record with additional material were for naught. After AQF spoke, CLA President Malcolm Burson issued a short statement on the Association’s position- basically that we filed a satisfactory application and did everything right and in a timely fashion and that we applaud the Department’s decision to transfer the Order to us. Finally, counsel for DEP spoke briefly stating their opinion that the DEP had covered all the bases and that the CLA transfer application was deemed satisfactory and complete. The Board then asked if there were any additional comments; Butch Duncan spoke briefly about his desire for a public hearing, and Paul Kelley spoke about why the thinks the Clary Lake Association lacks sufficient Right, Title, and Interest in the Clary Lake dam to operate it, an argument that Mr. Carrillo also attempted to make. The Board however correctly observed that there is a forum for resolving title issues, and they aren’t it.

The Board deliberated for all of about 2 minutes before issuing their unanimous decision denying the appeal.

A number of CLA Board members and several Clary Lake Association members attended the hearing. I have no idea how many people if any listened in on the DEP Virtual Meeting Room, if you did I’d be interested in hearing your reactions.

01 May 2019: DEP Approves Water Level Management Plan

We have received provisional approval of our Water Level Management Plan [WLMP] from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The WLMP details the procedures we’ll be following to operate the Clary Lake dam and manage the water level so as to remain in compliance with the Clary Lake Water Level Order [WLO]. The completion of a management plan was the final requirement of the WLO and it’s good to have this task behind us. This first season is like a shakedown cruise: we’ll be sitting down with DEP staff next winter to review the plan to see how well it’s met everyone’s needs. Continue reading →

April 2019 Water Level Chart Archived

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April 2019

I have archived the April 2019 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing about this chart is that it shows the lake level rose up to the High Water Mark (HWM) on the first day of the month, for the first time since before our water level crisis started back in 2011! The lake level has been hovering right around the HWM for the entire month, spending some time above and some time below it, rising as high as 3 inches above the HWM on April 27th before dropping to end the month 1.80 inches above the HWM. A lake level slightly above the HWM is a more or less normal condition this time of year, and there has been water flowing over the top of the Clary Lake dam for the entire month. When the spring runoff ends (it’s already peaked), the lake level will drop back to a more reasonable level 4 to 6 inches below the HWM. The plan is try and keep it around that level through July and into August. Welcome to the New Normal. Continue reading →

21 March 2019: Lake Level Staff Gauge Installed

Elevation-CheckWork to come into compliance with the Clary Lake Water Level Order (WLO) continues. Special Condition #6 of the WLO requires that the dam owner install a lake level staff gauge graduated in feet and tenths of a foot located in a “publicly visible location” behind the dam. The zero foot mark on the gauge must mark the elevation of the Normal High Water Mark (HWM) which has been previously determined to be at an elevation of 151.17 feet. I had already purchased the staff gauge from Forestry Suppliers earlier this winter. It’s nicely constructed of steel with a baked-on enamel coating, easy to read graduations, and brass grommets in the screw holes. It’s attached to a piece of pressure treated 5/4 board with stainless steel screws which in turn is attached to two steel brackets bolted to the gate structure with stainless bolts. It should prove serviceable for many years. Many thanks to Colin Caissie (pictured below left) for designing and fabricating the brackets to attach the staff gauge to the gate structure, and for helping with the installation. Continue reading →

31 January 2019: Board of Environmental Protection Rejects Kelley and Smith Filings

Just last week I posted about several filings made by Richard Smith and Paul Kelley in response to an appeal of the DEP’s Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association (see: “Kelley, Smith, Duncan File Comments on AQF Appeal“). The appeal was originally filed by Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) on December 26th (see: Aquafortis Appeals CLA License Transfer). The Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) wasted no time in responding to those filings and in a move that should surprise no one, they were determined to be not admissible to the record and have been summarily rejected. The BEP has not responded to Butch Duncan’s request for a public hearing on the license transfer and I think it’s safe to say that’s just not going to happen. Continue reading →

24 January 2019: Kelley, Smith, Duncan File Comments on AQF Appeal

The deadline for submitting written comments on Aquafortis Associates LLC’s appeal of the DEP Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association was Tuesday, 22 January 2019 at 5:00 PM (see “Aquafortis Appeals CLA License Transfer“). Only Butch Duncan commented on the actual license transfer application so therefore, according to the Notice of Appeal, he was the only one entitled to submit written comments on the appeal. He did not disappoint, submitting a short email to the Service List just after 3 PM on Tuesday. Per the Notice of Appeal, the Clary Lake Association was also entitled to comment, and we did by our letter dated January 4th. Much to my surprise (just kidding!) verbose comments were also submitted at the last minute by Paul Kelley (a total of 79 pages) and Richard Smith (a total of 37 pages). Continue reading →

Central Maine Papers: Repairs to Whitefield’s Clary Lake Dam completed

There’s an article that appeared in the Sunday December 23rd Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel by Central Maine Papers staff writer Jessica Lowell about the Clary Lake dam and the Rubin/Ayer v. Smith/AQF lawsuit which went to trial last week. This latest article is factually accurate which is somewhat of a marvel even considering Ms. Lowell has been following the Clary Lake saga for a number of years.

Repairs to Whitefield’s Clary Lake Dam completed

Here’s an archived copy if you have trouble getting it off the Central Maine Papers website:

24 December 2018: Water Over the Weir

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Totally Staged Photo of George Fergusson posing at the gate. Colin Caissie actually did all the heavy cranking.

I had intended to post some news and pictures on the dam repairs before now but I have been out straight and only now, the day before Christmas, have I found the time to sit down and do it. Last Tuesday workers with PCS removed the concrete forms and pulled some sandbags. They came back the next day to clean up and load up the rest of their gear and materials, bringing to completion the initial repairs to the Clary Lake dam. That afternoon, Colin Caissie completed fabrication of a wrench to operate the gate, and we wasted no time in closing it. Part of the rush was the anticipated rain forecast for Friday: we really wanted to capture the runoff! Here are a few pictures from when we closed the gate, and a video of water flowing over the weir: Continue reading →

11 December 2018: Dam Repairs Resume!

DSC_6070Repair work on the Clary Lake dam has been on hold for a few weeks while we waited for the water level behind the dam to fall enough to allow work to resume. We weren’t sure if a sufficient work-window was going to open, but fortunately, the 2-storms-a-week weather pattern that dropped 7″ of rain on us in November has given way to good old fashioned cold, dry, Maine December weather, and the water level behind the dam started to fall rapidly. At the beginning of the month there was over a foot of water flowing through the open weir. By last Sunday morning, the water depth was down to a little over 3″ and dropping, and with a possible large rain event forecast for next weekend, Rick Pease of PCS Construction decided it was time to resume work.

A1Monday morning they started the day by filling sandbags (at left), and in the afternoon they constructed a small cofferdam to block water from flowing through the open outlet weir. There was a little leakage so this morning they draped a plastic sheet over the sandbags to stop the leaking. Then they built a tent around the work area and installed a portable propane heater to keep it warm. They then got to work finishing removing the old blocks of concrete fascia that formed the original log weir and constructing the steel rebar structure that will reinforce the concrete weir they’re building. The plan is to have it formed up and ready to pour concrete this coming Friday, and just in time too, as a large rain event is forecast for next weekend.

Here are a few pictures of the start of this next and final phase of effort:

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You can see all the pictures in the Fall 2018 Gallery.

This is so exciting I can hardly stand it 🙂

30 November 2018: Water Level Order Transfer Update

Since closing on the dam property back on October 13th, the Clary Lake Association Board has been out straight trying to get the dam repaired, the old underground storage tank removed, and the Water Level Order transferred over to the Clary Lake Association. The repairs are underway, the tank is gone, and the license transfer is moving forward.

We submitted the license transfer application to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) back on October 22nd and it was accepted for processing by the Department on October 26th. Anyone with a good reason had until the end of the day on November 16th to file a request with the Department for a public hearing on the application. Not surprisingly, two parties did make such a request: Richard Smith (on behalf of Aquafortis Associates LLC) and Butch Duncan. Also not surprisingly, we received word today that both requests for a public hearing have been denied:

The outcome of these attempts to interfere with the transfer of the Clary Lake Water Level Order from PPM to CLA was never in question, and I expect a satisfactory decision on our license transfer application in the near future.

16 November 2018: Shooting Gunite!

DSC_6025Yesterday was a landmark day at the Clary Lake dam for several reasons, not just because the underground storage tank was removed but also because PCS “shot gunite” to seal the upstream face of the dam! What an exciting (and loud!!) experience that was! I wasn’t familiar with gunite and had never seen the process so I didn’t know what to expect. The cement comes in a cement truck like regular concrete, but there the similarity ends; rather than a concrete slurry, the stuff that comes down the chute is actually only slightly damp concrete and sand mix. It dumps into a device with a strainer to trap large particles that “fluffs” it up and then blows it down a long rubber hose. At the nozzle end high pressure water is injected into the stream. The whole system is powered by high pressure air from a compressor.

It was very gratifying watching the high pressure stream of water and cement fill holes, cracks, and voids. Some of the larger voids took as much as 30 seconds to fill. I half expected one in a while to see water and cement come shooting out the other side of the dam, but I never did. Here are some more pictures of them “shooting” gunite:

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All told it didn’t take them long once they got started. The were plagued with equipment malfunctions all morning, but once the cement truck arrived around noon, they got right to it and were done in less than 2 hours. Then they draped insulating blankets over the dam to help hold in the heat generated by the curing of the concrete.

I’ve got a couple of short videos I’ll post separately.

15 November 2018: Underground Storage Tank Successfully Removed

DSC_5976Today was a landmark day at the the Clary Lake dam. First thing this morning, McGee Construction arrived on site and got to work. First they finished pumping out the contents of the underground storage tank, a process actually started the day before. All told they pumped about 650 gallons of reasonably clean water out of the tank. Then they got to work digging up and removing the tank. It didn’t take long. The good news: Beacon Environmental was on site to do soil and water tests, and ZERO contamination was found, so ZERO remediation needed. This did not come as a huge surprise to anyone, but we were all nonetheless pleased and relieved to hear that. They were pretty much done by lunch time. Here are a few more pictures:

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The permitting process to get that tank out of the ground was substantial… requiring in all, 5 separate forms/applications including a tank registration form, an intent to remove tank form, an NRPA Permit By Rule notice, a Maine DOT Highway Opening application (the tank was partly in the road right of way) and last but not least, a “tank was successfully removed” notice (which I have to file tomorrow). Gak. You’d think we were trying to do a bad thing, not get rid of a potential environmental hazard. All I can say now is I’m glad that tank is finally out of the ground and off my radar.

About the time that McGee was finishing up the tank removal, PCS Specialty Contracting was getting ready to shoot gunite to seal the upstream face of the dam against leaking. I’ll post pictures and video of that exciting work shortly.