In 1957 a dam on the Pigeon River near Vanderbilt released a flood of sediment downstream, killing fish and other aquatic life.
In July 1984 the gates on a private hydroelectric dam at the same site -- the Song of the Morning Ranch yoga retreat -- were opened during maintenance work, releasing tons of silt into the river and resulting in a major fish kill.
On June 22, almost 24 years to the day later, someone manually opened a gate on the same dam. A second gate opened automatically and huge amounts of organic sediment flushed into the river, resulting in another major fish kill.
Nearly two weeks later the blue-ribbon trout stream was still cloudy and whole stretches of the river were devoid of fish. State Department of Natural Resources officials said the sediment killed fish either by thermal shock -- trout require cold water -- or by clogging their gills. Some biologists said it could take 10 years for the river to fully recover.
John Walters, president of the Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited, was outraged. "This is an absolute catastrophe," he said. "This has killed the river."
Three strikes must be enough.
While state Department of Environmental Quality officials are still investigating what happened -- and contemplating possible criminal charges or penalties -- the more important debate within Michigan's regulatory agencies must be whether the state should still allow Song of the Morning to operate the dam and, if it does, how it can justify that decision and ensure such an incident won't happen again.
That's not an easy question. While the organization has certainly failed in its obligations to the state and has abused the river and the life it supports, removing the dam -- even removing Song of the Morning as its operator -- brings a whole new set of issues and problems into play.
Monitoring and operating the dam 24/7 would no doubt cost a fortune. And the costs and risks associated with removing the dam would be just as daunting.
But allowing things to continue as they are is unacceptable. The fact that someone manually opened a gate to set the latest spill in motion is deeply troubling. This was not an equipment failure. And the yoga camp has offered no explanation.
Within days of the spill facility manager Ian Wylie, said, "We'd just as soon not talk about it right now." Later, he refused to comment.
To say this can't be allowed to happen again doesn't mean much. All that matters is what steps the state and the yoga facility take to ensure that it can't happen again. Whatever it takes.
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