After quake, Buzon wants Gilboa Dam checked
9/30/2015
By David Avitabile
A minor earthquake just west of the upper reservoir of the Schoharie Reservoir last Saturday apparently caused little damage, but still left local leaders nervous.
The quake, about eight miles below the surface, struck at between 11 and 11:15pm and was measured at 3.0 on the Richter Scale, according to Middleburgh town Supervisor Jim Buzon, who is also the chairman of the county’s flood committee.
Mr. Buzon felt the tremor, and, thinking a tree hit the back of his house in Huntersland, went outside to check. He then called county dispatch.
He noted that the New York Power Authority never contacted county safety officer Michael Hartzel, according to Mr. Buzon.
Mr. Hartzel was contacted at about 4am by the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office and by the NYPA at 11:40am on Sunday.
Mr. Buzon is upset that the NYPA did not reach out to the county about the earthquake.
The NYPA, he added, did its own check of the area and found no apparent damage.
Mr. Buzon would like a federal dam safety inspector to check the Gilboa Dam for any possible damage.
He noted that Governor Cuomo and DEP officials toured the dam after a 2.9 magnitude earthquake a few days before Hurricane Irene struck in 2011.
That earthquake was centered near Altamont.
“Those dams should be checked out by a federal inspector and not in an in-house inspection,” he stressed.
Middleburgh Fire Department Chief Mike Devlin and several other firefighters were not contacted by the NYPA but felt the earthquake and checked the area “as good as they could,” Mr. Buzon said, and saw no movement in any area.
The information about the quake is on the USGS website.
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