DEAD

 ALIVE

 ALIVE

 BACK TO THE RIVER

SAVED

WHAT HAVE WE HERE?

Today it is the first of June.  There are again many, many millions of animals that have died in the canal as of the past month or two.  This time the reason was the minor flood two months ago in March 2011 when the locks were opened to fill the Delaware Canal to take pressure off of the lower portion of the  Delaware River towns.  As well, the river overflowed its banks in the various northern portions of the canal.  But because the locks were opened, turtles and fish and snails and snakes were swept into the unkempt and never-repaired canal which cannot retain its water. Some water with its living cargo was swept southward past Center Bridge and then dried up and the rest was pushed to New Hope where the animals are still dying at this moment. 
This is the 6th year that volunteers have gone into the canal, night and day, to attempt to save the turtles and fish that cannot escape.  River Road is a dangerous roadway for any animal that tries to make a break for the river and the rest of the animals are unable to leave at all and just suffocate to death.  The heat of summer has already kicked in and there is no way for them to survive under the burning sun, especially in two inches of water.  More people are needed to help scoop the living ones out all the way to Odettes, and we need people to attend some very poignant meetings to prevent this from happening time and time again.  

Letter to The Editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 20, 2011

The Delaware Canal Conundrum at New Hope
What Jack Donahue, president of Friends of The Delaware Canal, along with the other members of his organization, and Rick Dalton of the DCNR all fail to take into account is that it is truly a godsend that they did not voluntarily pour water into the canal in the month of March, nor in this month of April, nor will they for the rest of the summer of 2011. A small but slowly evolving enclave of local residents along the Delaware Canal called the Delaware Canal Anti-Annihilation League or D-CAAL will attempt their best to prevent the haphazard and irresponsible refilling of the canal year after year until it is once and for all repaired properly and ceases to be a killing-zone for the local fauna that inhabit it. For years now the DCNR has been ordered by the "Friends" to refill the dry bed for the sake of tourism and hence appearances.  Water is deviated from the Delaware River through the locks bringing with it thousands of animals: many species of fish and turtles, mussels, snails, eels and snakes.  By fall each year they are left writhing in wet mud until they die as all of the water drains out again from the canal. This canal is a national landmark. It is a shambles and a travesty and while it ought to be given high priority as a protected habitat for regional fauna and flora, it never is. The other solution is to never refill it  again if it cannot for the first time, since the running of the mule barges,  be competently repaired.  Shame on those who think only of commerce at the expense of these silent, innocent creatures.

The Crux of The Problem Is Manyfold and Far More Complex Than You Know...

There is a broken old pump that sits below and to the eastern side of the bridge at Center Bridge and it has been broken beyond repair since the floods of 2004-06. Nonetheless, since that time, it has been sent out on numerous occasions for repair. When it runs it works off of a 220V current but what is really required is a 440V pump. In other words the pump in place was basically to weak and inexpensive from the start. On top of this it is haphazardly wired. A new pump will cost the State approximately $20,000 (tax money). On top of this cost is the fee to run it, gauged at a monthly figure of $1,200 from now to eternity with a yearly increase based on inflation. The PA Bureau of State Parks has suffered severe budget cuts over the past 3-4 years. Forty million dollars was put into the canal by FEMA, millions more by the State. Where did this money go?

It so happens that at the same time there were very serious leaks at Mechanic Street in New Hope due to seepage through the canal walls. Supposedly three of the businesses there have had water leaching into their basements during the past few trials of filling the canal. As of this winter, these walls were repointed by DCNR staff. Another place in the New Hope branch of the canal that leaks is on North Main Street by Rabbit Run Bridge. Residents there complained a great deal for years. The portion of the canal from around the boyscout camp at Bridge #2 all the way down to Lumberville is filled with innumerable leaks that have never been properly fixed. The State and its engineers, the park supervisors and The Friends of The Delaware Canal always hire the lowest bidder to do the work, (unless the DCNR does the work themselves with an insufficient task force,) and the lowest bidder never completes the reparations in a competent manner. They just want to get the show on the road, so everything looks copesetic, with no consideration for the wildlife that inhabits it.

The canal runs naturally southward from Easton but there has always been a pump since 1832 at Center Bridge. Even if it were to be replaced with the $20,000 “superior” model, is still shut off in wintertime because it cannot withstand the icey water and small icebergs that form on the edges of the Delaware River. Once it is shut off the water becomes shallower and shallower, and then there is so little water that all that remains are small pools of water with thousands of fish attempting to stay alive in them. The other animals either dry up or, as in the case of the turtles:

Most water turtles go deep into the pond and snuggle down into some mud and leaves at the bottom. Then they let themselves get cold. Their bodies slow down so they don't need to eat anymore. Their hearts slow down too so that they beat only once every few minutes. They stop breathing through their lungs. Because their bodies are running at such a slow speed, they don't need much oxygen, but they do need some. They can get the small amount of oxygen they need from the water. It sinks in through some specialized skin cells that are just inside the tail opening. That's right! They "breathe" through their tails! Water turtles can stay like this for two or three months. (How Turtles Hibernate Throughout The Winter; http://www.turtlepuddle.org/kidspage/hibernation.html)

Even if they could live through the winter, just like the giant snails that live around here, (half the size of a tennis ball), and who are able to withstand many months out of water,  under the steaming Pennsylvanian summer sun, and prolonged temperatures of 85-105 degrees, they die within a week. Many of the snakes and the turtles could potentially climb out of the dry bed and emigrate to the Delaware River which is within reach in many spots, but unfortunately River Road in the way, and they are killed by vehicles. People walking the free bridge from Lambertville to New Hope in summer stop to admire and smile at how the turtles congregate to sun themselves up on the footings of the piers. Those are the same creatures that get swept to their death every year only one hundred feet away on the PA side of the river.

The Three Foot Limit

There is now in place a three foot height limit to the filling of the water in the canal. This is because if this height is exceeded the water will leak tremendously. But only above three feet will the fish and other inhabitants remain alive in winter. Fish naturally can remain in a type of suspended animation in their hibernation throughout a winter in cold water. But the water must be over three feet of water to prevent a deep freezing. If the water is three feet or under three feet all of the inhabitants will die. So they'd be killed, even if we there were to be some water in this portion of the canal, because the leaks were never fixed and the water would be too shallow.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COUNT TO A MILLION?

Costs of Canal Repair: UNCOUNTABLE???

The Aqueduct at Point Pleasant: 2.5 million

The Lock at New Hope (Lock #11): 1 million

FEMA Involvement after the 3 floods of 2004-2006

The FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) assessment is completed at last. The agency has unofficially set the cost of repairing the flood damage at $22 million. The official approval is expected soon. Federal funds will cover 75% of the total; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is expected to supply the remaining 25% ($5.5 million). Meanwhile $200,000 in fed- eral funds has been released for use by the State already, with $3 million to follow in the next few months. (Friends of The Delaware Canal, Canal News, Autumn 2005 http://www.fodc.org/pdfs/newsletterarchive/canalnews905.pdf)

Published: Monday, March 16, 2009, 11:04 PM  

NEW HOPE, Pa. -- About $40 million in federal and state funds is being spent to repair three seasons' worth of flood damage inflicted on the Delaware Canal. Although the work is moving along, canoe owners and fisherman will not be putting their gear in the water anytime soon...Contracts of more than $19 million were awarded to rebuild heavily devastated areas to the canal near Easton and in Upper Bucks County.

The $30 million from FEMA and the $10 million in state funds for the flood project are welcomed by communities along the canal. Unfortunately for them, there is still much maintenance and repair work to be done that has been stalled for years. Given the condition of the Pennsylvania budget, there is little reason to expect a large infusion of capital funds.

Budgets insufficient to carry out maintenance or capital projects have been the rule as the canal bed, its banks, flood gates and locks continued to deteriorate for years.(NJ.com; http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2009/03/canal_work_flows_along.html)

The coffer dam at Centre Bridge that is used to hold pumped water in the section of the Canal used by the New Hope Canal Boat Ride was washed away and is in the process of being rebuilt by Park personnel. (Friends of The Delaware Canal Newsletter; http://www.fodc.org/pdfs/newsletterarchive/canalnews706.pdf)

Published: July 19, 2010

Following a $29 million flood repair project that took two-and-a-half years to complete, the historic Delaware Canal State Park will reopen this week with a celebration at the Forks of the Delaware Recreation Area in Easton. (Bucks Local News http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2010/07/19/the_advance/news/doc4c44abc6542b4805918359.txt)

Excuse me, but how long exactly would it take for any one person to count to a million? Can anyone reading this conceive of such numbers? 

FUN FACTS

Naturally, that depends on how fast you can count. But if you can count from 1 to 100 in one minute, and you keep counting every minute, without stopping, for eight hours every day (taking time off to eat, sleep, and go to school), you would reach 1,000,000 in 20 days, 6 hours, and 40 minutes, or almost 3 weeks. 

If, however, you give up eating, sleeping, and school, and just count every minute of every hour of every day, you would reach 1,000,000 in 6 days, 22 hours, and 40 minutes, almost 1 week.(http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-count-to-1-million)

This is our taxpayer money.  You and I pay money to The State whether you are a home owner, a renter, an employer or an employee in Pennsylvania. Don't you want a say if you know that your dollars are being wasted, or being used merely for the sake of appearances and then the death of local wildlife?
This year, 2011, the DCNR has $27,000,000 at its disposal from The State to be used to pay its employees and for the management and repair of its parks and the canal system. We need to be able to have a say in whether they fix the canal properly this time before it is refilled, or whether the past is repeated again and again.


PLEASE STAY TUNED AND INFORMED TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP. 


AND SIGN THE PETITION.

WHO EXACTLY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANIMALS DYING IN DROVES?

In their mission statement “The Friends of The Delaware Canal” have written:

The Friends of the Delaware Canal is an independent, not-for-profit organization working to restore, preserve and improve the Delaware Canal and its surroundings. Our primary goals are to ensure that…

the canal is fully watered from Easton to Bristol;

the towpath trail is useable over its entire length.

We embrace this mission in order to sustain a unique link to our heritage, protect diverse and valuable natural areas, provide recreational opportunities, and enable the canal to serve as a community and economic asset. (http://www.fodc.org/pdfs/canalnews109%20final.pdf)

Year after year, in keeping with their mission, "The Friends of The Delaware Canal" have been an unstoppable force in seeing that the canal be “fully watered”. 
They were in fact called three years ago and asked what was going on and could they please stop filling and refilling the leaking canal because there were hundreds of huge fish every year left flopping around in the mud after all the waters had disappeared. We were told that everyone felt
very bad about the animals, and no one wanted to see them hurt but there was nothing that could be done.

No, nothing that could be done, 
nothing that can be done, 
nothing can be done, 
absolutely nothing that can be done, 
nope, nothing could possibly resolve this issue,
no, naw, nope. 
Too bad for those poor animals. 
Wow, WE ARE REALLY SORRY, BUT 
NOTHING CAN BE DONE.

Yeah, wow...


Well, we'll have to see about that, won't we?  
              

Peace Out 

                                                                      photo furnished courtesy of NateBal.com

Experiments Kill Even More Animals

Last year in the month of July, newspapers all over the Delaware Valley reported the celebratory reopening of the canal to the joyful cries of the people inhabiting all the little towns from Easton to Bristol, PA. The Philadelphia Inquirer's reporter Larry King wrote on July 24, 2010, the following:

EASTON, Pa. - In the festive presence of kayakers, speechmakers, bicyclists, and a straw-hatted woman joyously blatting on a conch-shell horn, a storm-tossed relationship was renewed Friday. Water and the Delaware Canal, after a six-year separation, are together again. Standing at the head of the 58.9-mile canal, by the scenic convergence of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary John Quigley opened a stop gate and the Lehigh current flowed again into the historic waterway.The "rewatering" ceremony marks the first time the canal - except for a small, leaky span in New Hope - is being filled end-to-end since 2004."It is being brought back to life today," Quigley said.Actually, the vital signs have been strengthening for some time. The Delaware-fed stretch of the canal south of New Hope has held water since spring, and the Easton-to-Raubsville stretch had been test-filled in June. It will take about a week for the rest of it to fill, said Rick Dalton, Delaware Canal State Park manager. (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100724_Ceremony_marks__quot_rewatering_quot__of_the_Delaware_Canal.html)

Is it really fair to keep running experiments, or better said keep filling the canal for the sake of appearances, as was done last summer when the canal was opened at Easton and the water allowed to travel the entire distance to well below New Hope? As of November 2010, thirty miles worth of animals who were unable to escape were dead. They cannot swim in 1-2 inches of water to safety, they cannot escape the burning summer sun, and if they could crawl away how far could they get? Certainly not beyond the  fairly recently inadequately constructed, broken but very expensive aqueduct by the Locktender's house in New Hope. That's the aqueduct that stands directly in front of the nose of some very, very important people, mind you. We'll discuss that very soon. Stay tuned...

Sign the Petition

LET US BE THEIR VOICE

In the years between 2004-06, when this area suffered three consecutive floods, the canal paths and walls were destroyed and the old pump at Center Bridge, PA was broken. On the New Jersey side of the Delaware, any damage incurred was immediately repaired. The Pennsylvania canal system, an historical landmark, was left in disrepair, and during these floods as well along with the water came the numerous species of creatures swept in by force to their inevitable demise. 

But we don't need the floods to prove we are incapable of protecting these species.  We allow certain groups in the area to keep repeating the refilling of the canal come spring. It is partially our fault as we have not yet, in force, attempted to remain vigilant, remain involved in the decision-making and stood up to oppose them. Not  up until now.  In a couple of months if permitted, these groups, in particular one, will command the DCNR to refill the canal  and all the creatures will be swept in again from The Delaware River. 

A couple of months of swimming about and feeding in these shallow waters, and then death by desiccation and suffocation.

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Delaware Canal Anti-Annihilation League


(Sign our petition too)

POWER IS IN NUMBERS

OUR CANAL IS A TRAVESTY

Our canal is a travesty. Last year, amongst much celebration, the headgates at Easton were opened in July and the water rushed down the entire length of the canal. By November, thirty miles worth of animals were dead. The canal has been filled then allowed to dry out, refilled and allowed to dry out again and again. That's certainly a tremendous amount of destruction when it comes to the various species of water animals that have inhabited it.  What exactly is going on, and why does it appear that the powers-that-be don't care?

It's a wornout story, this canal saga. The greatest problems lie between the city of Easton and New Hope as a result of disuse through the years and flood damage. There are innumerable leaks. 


At the same time millions of dollars have been invested in machinery that serves no purpose, fixing towpaths, aqueducts and locks that don't work properly. Who's responsible for this?

The Animals Are Gonna Die Again For No Reason

The animals that are dying are of the silent type: turtles, fish, mussels, snakes, and large snails. They don't scream when they are dying. If they were capable of setting up a howl, many passersby would come running to the edge of the canal to see what the racket was, and in all probability quite a few of them would do as we do: get in there and try to save them.

Because of this it's certainly unpleasant to walk, jog or bike the canal after summer. It's painful to see what lies below. Driving from New Hope up past Upper Black Eddy surveying the canal from the road, one sees that the entire canal bed is dry, meaning that literally millions of creatures who were swept into the canal from the north died. This has been going on for 30 plus years. The canal has been filled then allowed to dry out, refilled and allowed to dry out again and again. That's certainly a tremendous amount of destruction when it comes to the various species of water animals that have inhabited it. How many times does this need to be repeated? 

What exactly is going on, and why does it appear that the powers-that-be don't care?

A lot of the particulars are a wornout story for anyone who has been following the canal saga through the years. The portion of the Delaware Canal that runs between the city of Easton, PA. to New Hope, PA is especially problematic. It has been compromised both by way of disuse and neglect through the years and flood damage. It has numerous leaks, aqueduct problems, and lock disrepair. But what is even more interesting is the fact that the entire canal was problematic from its inception.

The 60 mile long canal was built along the west bank of the Delaware River from navigable water at Bristol, to Easton, where it connected with the Lehigh Navigation. It employed 23 lift locks, a guard lock, a tide lock and nine aqueducts to climb 165 feet to Easton's elevation. Unfortunately, the contractors hired by the Commonwealth to construct the Delaware Canal proved to be incompetent, and when opened in 1832, the waterway leaked so badly that it was soon shut down. (Extracted from The National CanalMuseum/http://www.canals.org/educators/curriculum/delaware_canal) 

On top of the continuous disuse and disrepair, there is a broken pump at the lock at Center Bridge, PA.:

The Pennsylvania Canal Commissioners then asked Josiah White, co-founder of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company to rebuild the Delaware Division...White found it necessary to design a waterwheel pumping device built near New Hope to supply additional water for the lower sections of the Canal. (Extracted from The National Canal Museum/http://www.canals.org/educators/curriculum/delaware_canal) 

Therefore a pump was always needed to fill the section of the canal between Center Bridge and New Hope with water. An broken electric pump has been in place for years and years. But the only reason for attempting to keep this particular area of the canal filled is for the sake of appearances and the benefit of the mule barge operation.

Tug-of-War Over Mule Barge Rides

To the Editor: News of the proposed closing of the Delaware River Canal Boat Co.'s mule barge operation in New Hope is devastating. The negative impact this would have on the small community of New Hope, as well as the broader impact on tourism for the whole of Bucks County, is immense. Consider the promotional material for our region which explicitly touts this unique attraction; the historic mule-barge legacy and that of the Delaware Canal and its towpath are tied irrevocably. We, the community, cannot simply turn our backs on the demise of the mule barge concession.(The Intelligencer, December 31, 2007; http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1405732381.html)

The mule barge might very well have gone bankrupt, not because of problems with the canal but because of the following interesting tidbit. The original owner of the mule barge was removed and was replaced surreptitiously by The Friends of The Delaware Canal. This last owner was just a tiny bit corrupt:

New Hope Boat & Navigation Corporation charged in Bucks County case involving theft of more than $56,000 of state funds. The owners of a Bucks County company, New Hope Boat & Navigation Corporation, have been charged with scheming to keep more than $56,000 which should have been paid to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Attorney General Tom Corbett said the money was supposed to be paid to the Commonwealth as part of a 10-year contract for the operation of historic canal boat rides in the Delaware Canal State Park, located in Bucks County. (From The Pennsylvania Attorney General; http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=1133)

Other canals all over the world have been rehabilitated.

It's against the law to kill threatened species, and it's just plain cruel to repetitively year after year kill the silent and the helpless. Someone must be responsible for this, and truth be told it is no secret: through the mismanagement of funds, the cruel irresponsibility of some individuals who call themselves friends, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the State of Pennsylvania, this historical landmark, our Delaware Canal, has become a killing zone and a sham.  Last year when the headgates at Easton were opened with much celebration, the waters rushed in from the north bringing with it thousands of animal victims. Now the canal in many places is completely dry and dead. 

The canal has never been repaired properly and leaks tremendously from Bridge #2 around the boyscout camp all the way down to River Road at New Hope, the pump at Center Bridge is broken, an inferior model that has broken numerous times and can't be run in winter anyway. And we're told nothing can be done: the State's hands are tied.  There are some individuals in New Hope, outside of the DCNR, who issue orders and everyone must step up to bat according to their wishes. They have money to fix the problems, but they never do.  They spare not a dime for the proper reparation of the canal even after FEMA gave $40 million dollars for cleanup after the floods. Instead, some of the paths alongside the canal were repaired and red clay placed back on them.   

No money for the animals, just for appearances: the towpath, the mule barge, the treacherous canal waters that are allowed to recede completely each autumn leaving small pools of mud and an inch or two of water where the fish lie suffocating, the turtles quickly bury themselves to hibernate but will never make it until summer because there is no water to cover and protect them from the winter, the giant snails that await the water until the 85-105 degree summers cause them to rot.

There is a solution. Other canals all over the world have been rehabilitated. This canal, slated to open again in spring must not be refilled. Not until it is fixed once and for all. The killing must not be allowed to continue.  

These are the fish that have been dislodged from the mud where they died last fall 2010 now that the snow is melting in the canal bed. 

We are here to tell you most of the real facts behind the canal travesty. Everyone appears so confused and misinformed as to why the canal remains in a deplorable state, an eyesore and an incomprehensible mess. People talk and talk about it amongst themselves and remain completely confused. This is mainly because they are frustrated because no where has it been published as to why it is devoid of water and instead filled with the little floating bodies of dead animals, flotsam and jetsam.: flotsam and jetsam consisting of bottles, discarded beer cans, construction debris, plastic bags and cigarette butts and a host of garbage that never gets cleaned up.

Please Visit Our New Website

D-CAAL.com

This is what we're talking about.

Wasteland

A PLEA FOR HELP

Did you know that every year in our backyard, in the Delaware Canal thousands and thousands of animals are dying? Wildlife, some of it endangered, are being murdered purposely. We are talking about turtles, fish, mussels, snails, snakes, frogs, toads and a host of plants and other biological organisms that all make up an ecologically diverse and importantly delicate ecosystem. Two years ago a few red-bellied sliders were seen trapped by the concrete ledge just past Ferry Street in New Hope, and this year one of us buried another floating on its back under the Mechanic Street Bridge. None of these died of natural causes. For the past three years several of us have tried with water-filled pails and wheelbarrows and pickup trucks to save various species of fish, snails and their offspring by running them over to the Delaware River and freeing them. But we don't make even a dent in the numbers that die. You didn't know this, did you? Now you do!