Buckeye Lake homeowners: Basements are dry

BUCKEYE LAKE — Tully Rogers has lived on Buckeye Lake Dam for close to 30 years, and the only sump pump he owns is used to bring water from the lake for the flowers in his garden.

“We’ve never had one drop of water through the dam or anything,” Rogers said about his home near Seller’s Point on Buckeye Lake Dam. “I’ve never heard of anyone having seepage issues.”

Rogers and his wife, Judy, attended the Open House hosted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Gannett Fleming, the contracted design firm for the new dam, last week.

Project manager Robert Kline was met with laughter at that meeting when he mentioned homeowners along the dam likely needing sump pumps. As far as the Rogers know, no one living around them has ever needed one in their basement.

“I don’t know where they got that idea,” Rogers said. “They just assumed that was a problem.”

The Rogers also rent out condos near the North Bank boat launch. They said they have never had any flooding problems there, either.

Tim Ryan, a homeowner on North Bank of Buckeye Lake Dam, said that his house does not have a sump pump, nor do many of his neighbors.

He said he is unaware of anyone around him having any flooding problems since the 1970s.

Since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report was released in March, the ODNR has maintained that seepage along Buckeye Lake Dam has been a major cause for concern along the dam.

During the presentation at the Open House, the ODNR and Gannett Fleming provided an aerial shot of Buckeye Lake Dam with points for known seepage spots along the dam. The points stretched the entire length of the 4.1-mile earthen structure.

David Luttenberger has owned his house near Seller’s Point for 20 years. The only incident of flooding in his home came in the mid-1990s, after the Seller’s Point Spillway was installed, he said.

He said he let the ODNR know about the flooding, the department came and raised the east wall of the outlet channel, and he has not had any problem since.

“I don’t even own a sump pump,” Luttenberger said.

And, he added, all of his neighbors that he knows do not own one, either.

Robert Kline, project manager for Gannet Fleming, said in a Friday email that seepage entering basements in homes along the dam has been documented in various reports.

He cited the Phase 1 Inspection Report in 1978, the Division of Water Site Visit Memorandum of April 14, 2000, and the March 2015 Corps report.

“This condition may not be indicative of all homes located along the dam, but the possibility of seepage entering basements is highly plausible given the close proximity of the lake to homes along the dam, particularly during higher lake levels,” Kline stated.

Previously, Kline said that during the next year and half, a stability berm will be installed, extending at least 30 feet from the current dam. It will add support to the existing dam and be an extra barrier against seepage, he said. It also provides a work platform to construct the new dam, he said.

“A secondary benefit is that it increases the width of the dam which protects against failure due to over-topping in the event of a flood and may help reduce seepage by lengthening the path water must flow through the dam,” Kline stated in Friday’s email.

“The seepage barrier within the stability berm is the primary interim defense against seepage until the new dam is constructed.”

abisaro@gannett.com

740-328-8822

Twitter: @abisaro_NEW