We wonder how many times the dam that forms 2-mile-long Lake Lenape in Mays Landing has been repaired or replaced.
The answer is surely many, since it was built in 1849 by the Mays Landing Water Power Co. to generate power for its cotton mill. Current owners Atlantic County and Hamilton Township are planning to repair it again starting next year.
The previous repair didn’t go so well, with the county and township refusing to pay for work they felt wasn’t properly done. At least, the township’s solicitor said, both did very well in the subsequent litigation over the work and payment.
A new powerhouse was built in 1920. In 1975, the last time the dam was in private hands, a major project addressed cracks in sluice pipes and a sinkhole caused by seepage that was undermining the dam.
Wheaton Industries had bought the power plant and dam from the cotton mill company in 1956. Two decades later Wheaton was tired of periodically repairing the dam, which cost money and annoyed the public when the lake had to be lowered to make repairs.
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Since the deterioration of the dam put the lives of people downriver at risk, the company told a New York Times reporter, it went ahead with the repairs despite township officials urging delay to stop the temporary loss of the popular recreational lake.
A Wheaton vice president said the company might give the dam to the township to be rid of the headaches it brought, and the township mayor said it might accept the dam — but only if Wheaton repaired it first.
Three years later the deal was done, and several years after that the county became a co-owner to share the financial burden.
The latest headache is expected to cost $6 million, not a big bill…
