HOW JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES PREVENTED MAJOR DISASTER IN NEW YORK

You people do a lot of good for the local communities and help out where you can. Your construction quality is first-rate and environmentally conscious

Emmanuel Thomas I November 10, 2016

New York – What would have been a major humanitarian disaster was averted in New York, when Jehovah’s Witnesses embarked on construction of their new headquarters in Warwick, New York.

Soon after acquiring the property, the Witnesses carried out an inspection of Blue Lake Dam(Sterling Forest Lake) situated just few metres away and discovered to their surprise that the Dam was leaking and the gate valve inoperable.

The Witnesses embarked on rehabilitation of the Blue Lake Dam, source of the imminent disaster with the assistance of SUEZ Water New York Inc to keep it safe for residents. The Blue Lake Dam, created in 1956, is located on the eastern side of the lake and in a neighbourhood of 195 homes of The Woodlands at Tuxedo subdivision less than a mile from the Blue Lake.

It was originally made up of two parts: a main earth dam and a primary concrete spillway. A safety valve, used to lower the water level in the event of an emergency, was also installed at the bottom of the lake.

A subsequent inspection by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) confirmed that the dam was leaking water and the gate valve was inoperable, forcing the department to classify it as high-hazard.

A former park manager of Sterling Forest State Park, Jeffrey Hutchinson, said the dam was clearly leaking and that if it decided to go, there could have been some serious consequences.

‘’All of the homes down at the Woodlands subdivision, or a majority of them, could have been wiped out.

“In 2011, the Echo Lake Dam, located less than 30 miles from Blue Lake, failed and wiped out portions of the East Village in Tuxedo, New York,” comments Mr. Hutchinson on JW.org.

Town engineers estimated that 100 million gallons of water rushed down Ramapo River when the Echo Lake Dam gave way. Echo Lake has a surface area of 13 acres (5.2 ha)—less than one eighth the 115-acre (46.5 ha) surface area of Blue Lake.

President of The Woodlands at Tuxedo Homeowners Association, Robert R. Werner states: “It is clear to me that had Jehovah’s Witnesses not stepped up, this project would not have been done until a failure of the structure had occurred. If that had happened, we would have had potential loss of life and property.”

Richard Devine, chairman of the Witnesses’ Warwick Construction Project Committee, explains: “We are happy that the dam rehabilitation project was successful, and we certainly appreciated the assistance from SUEZ Water. Our construction team shored up the dam, replaced the old, broken valve, added an auxiliary spillway, and raised and fortified the primary concrete spillway. The completion of the project ensures that the dam now meets the codes and industry standards for safety.

“You people do a lot of good for the local communities and help out where you can. Your construction quality is first-rate and environmentally conscious,” he said.