Belchertown Conservation Administrator LeeAnne Connolly said the steps involved in obtaining permits for demolition of the Upper Bondsville Dam are not simple.
BELCHERTOWN – Responding to concerns of people opposed to taking down the Upper Bondsville Dam, Conservation Commissioners said Monday that the state, federal and local processes of permitting its demolition would take a long time, unless there is a public safety emergency.
Commissioners said issues including protection of endangered species and protection of drinking water would be studied by the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Executive office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Belchertown and Palmer Conservation Commissions.
“It is not a simple process,” said LeeAnne Connolly, the administrator for the Belchertown Conservation Commission. “We would do our due diligence.”
Conservation Commissioner David M. Haines said the commission would not take sides based on the politics or emotions that have built up around this issue but would follow its legal process governing work done in a wetlands resource area and base its decisions on scientific information.
The Belchertown Land Trust, a small non-profit organization, owns the Upper Bondsville Dam on the Swift River and has been ordered by the state Division of Dam Safety to either repair it or demolish it because it has been rated in poor condition.
The dam was built more than a century ago to power mills in the Bondsville section of Palmer. The mills are long gone but the environment that has grown around the impoundment created by the dam is cherished by nearby property owners and many who use the Swift River for recreational purposes.
Directors of the Belchertown Land Trust have said they do not want to continue owning the dam and taking responsibility for it, so the only way they would be interested in repairing rather than demolishing it would be if some individual, business or organization would take over ownership.
The Belchertown Land Trust has been exploring grants to cover the cost of repairing or demolishing the dam but has not reached a decision on which course to follow and has not applied for any permits.
The issue was brought to the Conservation Commission by the Swift River Preservation Association which was formed by people who want to the dam and the impoundment to stay intact.
When members of the association asked about the possibility that the dam could be taken down quickly without a lengthy public hearing process, Haines said that would happen only if it was considered that there was a serious public safety concern and the dam was in danger of being breached.