No decision has been made on raising the level of Lake Cumberland next year and none is expected until the upstream grout line in the earthen section of Wolf Creek Dam is in place.
Steve Foshee, public affairs officer for the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District, said Wednesday the grouting is projected to be completed February 21. After that, he said, the Corps will start going through a process already in place to determine the lake level. Foshee said this information was confirmed by David Hendrix, manager of the Wolf Creek project.
An announcement from Congressman Hal Rogers’ office late last summer indicated the lake level would be raised 10 feet during the 2008 tourist season. However, Corps officials quickly muted celebrations by tourist-related businesses by saying no decision had been made on the lake level next year.
The lake was lowered 43 feet last January to ease pressure on Wolf Creek Dam, classified in high risk of failure by a panel of outside engineers. The action followed a revelation in August 2005 that Wolf Creek Dam is plagued by uncontrolled seepage and immediate action was necessary.
The lower lake level caused angst in an economy based on tourism. Boat launching ramps were extended to reach the water but expanded banks enhanced a perception that Lake Cumberland was no longer a vacation wonderland.
However, at pool stage, Lake Cumberland averages 90 feet deep, and an intensive publicity effort was launched to point out that there are still 35,000 acres of water in Lake Cumberland.
Advanced Construction Techniques, a Canadian firm, accelerated a grouting program begun in January and seepage through the earthen section of the dam reportedly has been reduced. Grouting is pumping liquid concrete to fill cavities in the limestone karst below the dam.
Foshee said the Corps has a process to determine a safe level of the lake during rehabilitation of the dam. He quoted Hendrix as saying this process would be followed.
A contract is expected to be awarded in May to insert a second concrete diaphragm through the earthen section of the dam extending to 100 feet in bedrock below the dam. It is part of a $309 million rehabilitation of the 56-year-old dam that is expected to take up to seven years.
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Grouting will determine decision on lake level
February is target date for initiation of assessment
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Hal Rogers defends Somerset’s Streetscape project
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Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality. -
Old districts are back ... for now
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the legislative redistricting debacle in Frankfort.
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
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The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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SCS to host Medal of Honor recipient
The message is clear: There are heroes. Even here in our own hometowns.
That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
For further questions, ticket purchases, and sponsorship opportunities please contact Susan Adams at (606) 875-0255. -
Newspaper veteran name Publisher of Commonwealth Journal
SOMERSET — A fourth generation newspaperman has been named publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.
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