THUNDER BAY — The Camp 43 Dam on the Black Sturgeon River, northeast of Thunder Bay, will be repaired rather than demolished.
The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks announced the decision after engineers examined the 60-year-old structure and found that it was "at high risk of failure," according to a recent letter to stakeholders.
Given the risk to property and the environment downstream, the ministry says the dam needs "urgent and critical" repairs.
"Consequently, the ministry will not be proceeding with the proposed partial demolition of the Camp 43 dam...nor will it be carrying out any further steps under the related class environmental assessment," the letter states.
The ministry is looking for a contractor to make repairs which it expects will take place between May and November this year.
Up until 2018, the dam fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
After initiating a study in 2013, it released a draft report in 2017 in which consultants recommended demolishing the dam's concrete aprons, and reopening the Black Sturgeon River to migrating fish.
Michael Gravelle, the former natural resources minister, had supported the plan on the grounds it would help rehabilitate native fish populations in Black Bay.
However, the proposal was highly controversial.
Groups such as the Northshore Steelhead Association and the Red Rock Fish and Game Club spoke out against it, saying the dam's removal would reopen spawning habitat for the sea lamprey.
Numerous organizations and groups on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, including Fisheries and Oceans Canada, also went on the record opposing demolition.
The consultants who worked on the 2017 report had recommended construction of a multipurpose lamprey barrier farther upstream, and the application of lampricide, to deal with the increased lamprey threat.
