City Council Candidate Lauren Carter visits Lake Isle Dam

Mount Vernon, NY –

In response to articles published by The Journal News and Black Westchester, today Lauren Carter, candidate for Mount Vernon City Council, toured the grounds of the Lake Isle dam to see first-hand the potential consequences a dam failure could pose on the citizens of Mount Vernon and on surrounding communities.

“After reading the articles and the Dam Safety Inspection Report prepared by Mott MacDonald for the city of New Rochelle, it became evident that this is a topic I needed to address.”

said Lauren.

According to published reports, the dam, built in 1894, has had no maintenance work performed in over four decades. And while there are disagreements over who owns the dam, 190 million gallons of water could spill onto the Hutchinson River Parkway into places like Mount Vernon if the dam fails.

Three proposals-ranging from $3 million to $20 million dollars-have been put forward to address the impacts of a dam failure.

“Rather than repair the dam or even bring it up to 21 century engineering standards, it is probably best to drain the dam. Even if the dam is brought up to current standards, regular inspections and maintenance would have to continue and if it has not been done in over the last 40 years, I don’t think it will be done in the next 40 years. Therefore, rather than face this problem again, it’s best to eliminate it”.

said Lauren.

Lauren is asking residents in all communities that are in the flood emergency inundation area to call their state, county, and local officials to act on this issue.

Photos of Lauren Carter at dam.