NEW ALBANY, Ind. — The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has stopped crews from doing emergency maintenance at the Providence Mill Dam in New Albany due to permitting issues.
New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan approved the construction on Aug. 2 in hopes of improving safety at the Silver Creek Landing in Glenmill Park. It came a few months after the dam’s dangerous undercurrents led to the drowning of a young boy in May.
Gahan said DNR officials had been to the site, but on Wednesday, the department said the construction was happening without the proper permits required by state law.
“Unauthorized work, including placing fill/rock in the floodway, can lead to upstream flooding and create additional public safety issues if not properly constructed,” DNR Director Holly Lawson said in a statement.
Lawson said Indiana DNR Law Enforcement have issued a Class B infraction against the mayor for “knowingly [failing] to comply” with the permit statute for unauthorized construction in a floodway.
What will happen to the Silver Creek dam?
According to Lawson, in 2021, the DNR issued a permit to Environmental Connections Institute LLC to remove the dam as the “best method to eliminate public safety risk.”
“The city appealed the permit and has requested a stay of the permit to remove the dam, resulting in an over three-year delay of the dam removal,” she said. “Despite the legal challenges from the city, the state continues to defend the permit granted to remove [it].”
Gahan said the DNR referred to the Silver Creek dam as a “drowning machine” in a previous court filing, adding that it risked the public’s safety if nothing was done.
City officials voted twice to improve safety at the dam, including more than $10,000 in new signage and safety devices around the dam and landing.
On Tuesday, the City of New Albany posted a video on Facebook showing crews adding rock along the dam.
"I appreciate the support from the community for our efforts to make this area safe for everyone," Gahan said in the video.
New Albany native Ron Durbin believes the mayor's actions were proper in ensuring everyone's safety.
"I think he almost had no choice," Durbin said. "Rather than to continue waiting on the bureaucracy that goes through all of this just takes too long for action. And he did what he had to do."
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