LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The City of New Albany is in hot water over the Silver Creek Dam.
Tuesday, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a Cease and Desist order to New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan for work he called "emergency maintenance" at the dam.
"Serve as a formal notification directing the parties to cease and desist from further activity and requires the parties begin taking steps directed at restoring the site," the order from the Army Corps of Engineers said.
For about a week, city crews have been placing large rocks and boulders on the downstream side of the dam.
The Army Corps said in a statement to WDRB the city broke federal law when it started working on the dam as it did not get a permit from the Department of the Army.
"Therefore, the work that has been performed is considered an unlawful and unauthorized activity," the Army Corps said in the statement.
Mayor Gahan ordered the emergency maintenance in July, two months after 14-year-old AJ Edwards drowned at the dam.
On Memorial Day, Edwards was walking across the dam, fell in and drowned. On June 3rd , the day Edwards was buried, his grandmother Judy Clark stood in front of the New Albany City Council and demanded they take action.
“You don't know what I have been through, you have no clue it is the hardest thing any woman, grandmother, grandfather, daughter goes through," said Clark.
The River Heritage Conservancy, the group building Origin Park, were awarded a permit and a grant from Indiana DNR to remove the dam, but the City of New Albany sued to stop the project. That case is still in litigation.
“We are being very respectful of the court system and the legal process by all rights we had a permit to remove it, and we have been following what we are supposed to do, and we would expect the city of New Albany to do the same,” said River Hertiage Conservancy C.E.O. Dennis Schnurbusch.
Last week, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources also ordered the City of New Albany to stop work due to not having a permit through them, and issued an infraction notice to the mayor for personally ordering the work on the dam.
The Army Corps of Engineers said New Albany must clear the pile of rock and the road leading down to Silver Creek, restoring the site to its condition before work was started. But, before that work can happen, the city has to submit plans to the Corps for review and approval within 30 days.
"In order to resolve these violations of Federal law, the unauthorized fill material must be removed from waters of the U.S. by the responsible parties and the site must be restored to its condition prior to being impacted," the cease and desist order said.
More Silver Creek Dam Coverage:
- Indiana DNR orders city of New Albany to stop emergency repair work at Silver Creek dam
- New Albany mayor proposes safety improvements at Silver Creek dam where teen drowned on Memorial Day
- Family of 14-year-old who drowned in Silver Creek joins renewed calls for removal of dam
- 14-year-old boy's Memorial Day death reignites controversy over future of Silver Creek dam
- 14-year-old boy found dead after swimming in Silver Creek, New Albany police say
- City of New Albany files lawsuit to stop removal of dam on Silver Creek
- New Albany to object to dam removal for southern Indiana parks project
- After burying son who drowned in Silver Creek, family wants action from New Albany leaders over dam
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