Pigeon River dam spill kills trout

VANDERBILT -- Dave Smethurst hiked to a riverbank in the Pigeon River Country State Forest after he learned a spill from a private dam caused a significant fish kill.

The Gaylord man, a longtime fisherman, wanted to see the damage in the Pigeon River for himself.

"I was out in the area, looking at the river and I just cried," he said. "It was just black, as opposed to clear, and dead fish were floating by."

Officials believe a gate was manually opened Sunday night on a private hydroelectric dam in Otsego County. A second gate on the dam automatically opened and large amounts of organic sediment spilled through and flushed downstream, choking the water with silt and killing fish, officials said.

State environmental officials will try to gauge damage done to the Pigeon River fishery, one of the state's best-known trout streams and a designated natural river.

"Dams slow water down and the sediment that would normally flow downstream drops out of suspension and settles to the bottom. When it comes in a pulse like this, it can cause problems," said Dave Borgeson, fishery supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Crews of DNR fishery experts waded through the downstream stretches of the river this week where they shocked the water with electricity to net and count living fish. They mostly found dead trout.

"It's a devastating fish loss," said Andy Nuhfer, of the DNR fisheries division. "We found very few living trout. Mostly brook trout. No rainbows. No browns."

DNR crews on Wednesday collected more than 40 dead trout that were more than a foot long, including one brown that measured 23.5 inches.

The state Department of Environmental Quality will monitor water quality and complete surveys of insects and small crustaceans, said Bob McCann, agency spokesman.

"Any time something like this happens, there is the potential for a longer-term effect on the ecology of the river," he said.

It's unknown how long it will take the river to recover and whether the yoga retreat center will face criminal violations or penalties, McCann said.

"At this point, we're in total cooperation with (state officials) and the dam is running fine," said Ian Wylie, manager at the yoga facility. "We'd just as soon not talk about it right now."

A similar sediment release and fish kill happened at the same spot in 1984 during maintenance work to the privately owned dam.

Photos

Fishery experts with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources netted this living 7-inch brook trout in the Pigeon River, evidence that some fish survived a major die-off after sediments were released from a privately-owned dam. Record-Eagle