Indiana DNR orders city of New Albany to stop emergency repair work at Silver Creek dam

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The state of Indiana has cited the city of New Albany and ordered the Mayor to stop emergency repair work on a dam where a 14-year-old boy drowned earlier this year.

The Silver Creek dam at Origin Park has been a site of controversy for several years. New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan touted a plan to save the Silver Creek dam in July.

In order to do any kind of work in a creek, river or lake, permits are required from the Department of Natural Resources and Army Corp of Engineers. But the city doesn't have a permit from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources while the Army Corp of Engineers is still investigating the dam.

DNR SILVER CREEK DAM FOLO — Crews place rocks and gravel near the Silver Creek dam in New Albany, Indiana on Aug. 6, 2024.

WDRB News shot video at 11 a.m. on Tuesday of a contractor hired by the city of New Albany dumping large boulders and rocks on the downstream side of the Silver Creek Dam. Throughout the day, trucks delivered more rocks to the area. Photos shared with WDRB News show a slope of stone packed behind the dam.

But the Indiana Department of Natural Resources confirmed the work at Providence Mill Dam is in progress without permitting that is required by state law.

Gahan ordered the emergency maintenance two months after 14-year-old Andre "AJ" Edwards Jr. fell from the dam into the creek on Memorial Day and drowned. The undercurrent held him down and he was later found just a few feet from the dam.

Days after the drowning, the child's grandmother Judy Clark demanded action from the city council.

"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 and I don't wish that on any of you," Clark said in June.

The New Albany City Council originally passed a resolution to have the dam removed. Efforts to remove the dam go back to at least 2020 when the River Heritage Conservancy applied for a permit to have the dam removed.

The permit was granted but the city challenged the ruling. The legal back and forth has been frustrating to those wanting to access the creek.

The River Heritage Conservancy issued a statement, "We are deeply disappointed that the Mayor and the New Albany City Council have once again acted independently by placing rock in front of the dam without state and federal permits, before their court appearance on August 8 for final arguments in their suit to stop the dam's removal."

Josh Turner, a former New Albany council member told WDRB News in May the Indiana Department of Natural Resources is behind removing the dam.

"The city of New Albany does not want the dam to be removed, so there's a turf war going on," Turner previously said. "The dam right now is in the middle of litigation, and that's the delay."

Indiana Department of Natural Resources requires permits to remove the dam and permits to do any work around the dam.

"This law is in place to protect both people and property that are in the path of these waterways," Indiana Department of Natural Resources released in a statement. "Unauthorized work, including placing fill/rock in the floodway, can lead to upstream flooding and create additional public safety issues if not properly constructed, which is why these activities require a permit from DNR."

Indiana Department of Natural Resources said it has issued an infraction to Gahan.

"Workers have been told to stop placement of fill in the floodway," Indiana Department of Natural Resources said.

The Army Corp of Engineers said in a statement, "We have been made aware of ongoing work. Louisville district personnel are visiting the site to determine if the work is associated with a valid permit or constitutes an unauthorized discharge of fill material into the waters of the United States."

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