CHEAT LAKE ENVIRONMENT AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
TO: Magalie R. Salas, Secretary DATE: August 27,
2006
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
888 First Street, N. E.
Washington, DC 20426
RE: PROTEST and COMMENTS, Project 2459-179,
Recreation Plan Update, Lake Lynn (Cheat Lake)
The Cheat Lake
Environment and Recreation Association (CLEAR) takes this opportunity to PROTEST
and COMMENT upon the Final Report of the Allegheny Energy Supply Corporation
(AE) on the Triennial Review of the Cheat Lake Park and Trail. COMMENTS, PROTEST, and INTERVENTIONS are
due to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by August 28,
2006.
First, we wish to
acknowledge the substantial and diverse attention that the Cheat Lake Park and
Trial have received, a fine facility with outstanding attributes. The hard work of Charles Simons (AE) and
Andy Datsko (AE) with their support staff personnel have been instrumental in
achieving a functional and dependable operation. The employees of the Pace Training &
Evaluation Center have worked hard to keep up with the maintenance and minor
repairs. And, the Monongalia County
Sheriff’s Department has performed a consistently admirable job of
security. Lieutenant Scott St.
Clair provided a very friendly and helpful function in this regard, although his
tour of duty has come to an end.
CLEAR has attempted to provide meaningful and helpful comment and some assistance to the Cheat Lake Park and Trail. Let me acknowledge the outstanding work of Donna Weems (Secretary), Ann Chester (Treasurer), Chad Pierscalla (Chair, Recreation Committee), and Mike Strager (Chair, Boating & Fishing Committee). Other members or friends of CLEAR who have helped significantly are Arnold Benson, James Kotcon, Bruce Miller, Jennifer Rodgers, Gary Cutlip, Paula Hunt, James McGraw, Jonathan Weems, Dennis Grosce, Paul and Fran Baker, Bill and Jan Reger-Nash, Adam Polinski, Milton and Bert Cohen, Jonathan and Shirley Rosenbaum, Mike and Nancy Roder, Sally Wilts, Keith and Joan Pitzer, Charles Wallbridge, Jim Snyder, Nancy Treat, Deborah Fulton (SEALS), Catherine Lozier (League of Women Voters), Dave Saville (Friends of the Cheat Lake Trail), Peggy Pings (National Park Service), Frank Jernejcic (WV Department of Natural Resources), Ralph LaRue (Morgantown Board of Parks and Recreation), Greg Good (Greenspace Coalition), as well as the Monongalia County Commission (John Pyles, Robert Bell, and Asel Kennedy).
PROTEST
The Cheat Lake
Environment and Recreation Association (CLEAR) herewith submits three specific
PROTEST items relative to the Recreation Plan Update for the Cheat Lake Park and
Trail:
General
Discussion
CLEAR and the other
organizations taking an interest in the Cheat Lake Park and Trail generally
agree that (1) a more balanced approach to recreation, safety and security is
needed to achieve maximum benefits at the lowest costs, and (2) a swimming beach
could readily be developed at the Mill Stone Point or another location around
the Lake, and (3) an advisory group, e.g. the Cheat Lake Advisory Council, would
be very beneficial to the operation and improvement of the Park and Trail.
To date, the Park
and Trail as been strong on “security” such that recreational programming and
safety services have been very limited.
And, the recent changes have given even greater emphasis to the
“security”. This balance needs to
be reassessed and changed to place strong emphasis on recreation and
safety. This is particularly true
given the low risk nature of the Park and Trail system. The Letters of CLEAR submitted
on May 15, 2006 stand as detailed and explicit statements of our
recommendations. We stand
behind these recommendations and request that these be given full
consideration. All parties are
challenged by schedules, but our intentions, ideas, and commitment have not
faltered.
CLEAR is in support of the integration of recreation, safety and security functions at the Cheat Lake Park and Trail. This will permit a cost effective focus on recreational programming to the benefit of the general public.
The Park and Trail
have much greater potential than is now being realized. In addition, the presence of
recreational professionals at the Park and Trail will permit some time to be
given to the other areas around the Lake where recreational benefits can be
achieved; and, this will benefit the safety and security of all Lake related
functions.
Two meetings have
been held of the Cheat Lake Advisory Council. These have been preliminary and
organizational in nature. More work
is needed to arrange for a more robust group and establish a regular schedule
for meetings. This Council will
come to full operation only if its activities and recommendations have an open
reception at AE and at FERC. The
coming fall and early winter will be the period of most importance to the
Council, as this seems to be the period of greatest interest to the current
participants.
Specific Items of
Comment
Parking and
Picnicing
AE has provided
sufficient parking for the Cheat Lake Park and Trail. The 50 spaces in the main paved lot plus
the 30 spaces in the overflow area are more than adequate at the current level
of usage. The upper lot at the north end of the trail is also adequate; however,
it is rather steep and dangerous, as often is the case in West Virginia and
southwestern Pennsylvania.
Picnic areas are not
heavily used, but the moving of 10 tables closer to the water was a good move
and very much appreciated. The
Hilltop loop contains 19 picnic sites that are not used. One can inspect them at any time, or
examine the garbage cans there to see that this area is prime for examination
for alternative recreational options.
Should extra parking ever be needed, this area would accommodate
such. Some consideration could be
given to permitting certain groups, e.g. Boy and Girl Scouts, to camp here
overnight under strict and controlled
conditions.
Similarly, the fish
cleaning station is not used; and the toilet facilities at this location, i.e.
at the day use boat docks are rarely used.
This structure and facility could easily be modified to become a change
house for swimming. It is ideally
located relative to the Mill Stone Point, proposed below as a public swimming
area.
Swimming
An organization
known as Swimming for Everyone At the Lake Shore (SEALS) is a small group of
individuals who function as an independent entity and is affiliated with the
Cheat Lake Environment and Recreation Association (CLEAR). As the name implies, SEALS has its focus
on achieving swimming opportunities for the general public at one or more
locations along the shoreline of Cheat Lake (Lake Lynn).
At the present time, there is not even one location on Cheat Lake where the public can swim legally. Some swimming is occurring, but the safety and security of these activities are not protected by any organization. The locations where swimming is currently taking place will be discussed below.
Allegheny Energy
(AE) expressed concern that water quality is poor for swimming in Cheat
Lake. However, the water quality is
mostly very good, and better than is represented by the data reported by
AE. CLEAR sampled the Lake to
study the water quality. During
June and July of 2006, five samples of water representative of the proposed
swimming areas showed pH values of 6.8, 6.8, 7.2, 7.1, and 7.3 with the
corresponding fecal coliform counts being 45, 45, 72, 52, and 0 (zero) colonies
per 100 milliliters, respectively. The water quality in Cheat Lake based upon
past experience and these data is more than adequate for public swimming most of
the time.
However, immediately
after a heavy rain storm, the water quality is known to deteriorate
substantially. The water quality typically recovers in a day or so. The water quality data above do not
reflect any recent rain storms. The
pH of near 7.0 is an excellent value. The fecal coliform is also very
good, being substantially below the limit of 200 counts per 100
milliliters. We plan to monitor the
water quality on a systematic basis when public swimming from the shoreline is
achieved.
There are at least
three locations where beach type swimming would be feasible. These are the Mill Stone Point, the
Morgan Run Backwater near the Guard House, and the Ruble Run Backwater near the
Trail. The first two are believed
to be practical for up to 30 swimmers, while the third may be more limited.
We believe that the
presence of lifeguards is desirable, but that a non-guarded beach could be
achieved if recreational professionals, also serving safety and security
functions were nearby. The public interest would be best served if SEALS, CLEAR
and AE could work together to provide practical leadership for swimming on Cheat
Lake.
Allegheny Energy
also claims that boat traffic is too great or too close to the proposed areas to
make swimming feasible. A protected swimming area can easily be designed and
installed. This can be a roped off
area with appropriate buoys and floating platforms to protect the swimmers from
boat traffic and to provide convenient benefits to facilitate the swimming
itself. This will also limit the
swimming to the designated area(s). The Mill Stone Point location is already
sheltered by the curvature of the shoreline and is within the no-wake zone
already established, as are the other two locations
mentioned.
Swimming is
currently taking place, but only for some individuals, in Cheat Lake. Swimming is extensive at the Emma
Kaufmann Cove (EKC) where up to 500 enrolled children during camping season can
be found in various recreational modes in the Lake.
Here are the
locations were swimming can be observed most any
weekend:
(1) The old “classic” swimming beach at Mt.
Chateau is gone, as was confirmed to you by the West Virginia Division of
Natural Resources (AE-Final Report).
Legal rights do remain for limited swimming at that location but parking
is not permitted for the general public. So, the limited swimming taking place
there is from private docks,
(2) swimming is taking place in association
to boating throughout the Lake as part of tubing, water skiing, and jet ski
(personal water craft) usage,
(3) boats anchored in the backwaters and
coves of the Lake have swimming taking
place,
(4) there is swimming off the I-68 Bridge,
off the Iron Bridge at Ices Ferry (Route 857), and off the old bridge abutment
in the Rubles Run backwater,
(5) there is swimming off the private boat
docks and privilege permit locations distributed around the Lake, and
(6) there is swimming at various locations
in the Cheat Canyon, i.e. the inlet pool of the Lake, including at a sand beach
and various large rocks, as are present at the mouth of Quarry Run, for example.
Swimming was
observed at all these locations just yesterday! Yet, the safety and security at all
these locations (except Emma Kaufmann Camp) has not been given attention by any
group or organization. And, the
general public has no access to direct Lake swimming unless they should be
fortunate to have a private boat, private dock, privilege permit, or if they
wish to swim at risk to safety and health from bridges, large rocks, or hanging
trees.
Concluding
Remarks
Given that the
public interest is primary with regard to the Recreation Plan for the Cheat Lake
Park and Trail, we acknowledge that a wonderful facility has been constructed
and developed. We have now had six
years to use this facility and to examine its potential for enhancement(s). Ideas and opportunities are
plentiful. And some are at once
practical and of essentially no additional cost.
We identified what
we consider some essential improvements, some other changes are recommended, and
still others can be considered at a later date. A balanced consideration of recreation,
safety and security seems only logical after these months of reflection. Swimming from the shoreline at one
limited location is believed to be a small but important step.
And, the activation
and function of a Cheat Lake Advisory Council would benefit all in that it would
provide for much needed communications among the Lake operator, the governmental
agencies involved and the general
public.
Thank you for your
considerations and for this role of
FERC in these matters.
Cheat Lake
Environment & Recreation Association
330 Dream Catcher
Circle
Morgantown, WV
26508
304-599-8040
duane330@aol.com
cc:
Shana High,
FERC
Charles Simons,
AE
Andy Datsko,
AE
CLEAR Email
List
C. Lozier, League of
Women Voters
D. Saville, Friends
of the Cheat Lake Trail
D. Fulton,
SEALS
G. Good, Greenspace
Coalition
Monongalia County
Commission