THUNDER BAY — The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry says it will send a crew to clear away debris at a dam on the Black Sturgeon River northeast of Thunder Bay.
It's known as the Camp 43 dam, it was built more than 60 years ago for timber harvesting operations by the former Great Lakes Paper Company.
Some residents of the Nipigon/Red Rock area became concerned when high water levels and unusually strong flows this spring caused logs and other material to pile up, diverting water over a berm that's off to the side.
According to Phil McGuire, "Above the dam, they put booms across the river to catch all the sticks and logs and stuff coming down the river, but there was so much this year that those things broke, and everything was jammed up against the dam."
McGuire said water that could no longer enter the spillways caused some damage to the shore downstream.
It also appears to have decimated the frog population, he said, as during a recent visit there was no evidence of them in their usual breeding area.
He and family members have long been concerned about the dam's impact on spawning fish.
McGuire said the family had to forego its annual visit to the dam to net fish and carry them above the dam to continue their spawning run.
"For eight years the Métis and First Nations have been throwing fish over the wall to help pickerel and sturgeon. This year we couldn't because the dam plugged up and there was too much water," he explained.
McGuire reported his concerns about conditions at the dam to MNDMNRF.
A ministry spokesperson was not available for an interview, but confirmed in a statement that engineering staff were made aware of the debris and recently conducted a site visit.
During that visit, "there were no significant issues noted and the dam appeared to be functioning with no issues other than the debris accumulation," she said.
The spokesperson said the material will be cleared away from the dam spillways once water levels decrease sufficiently.
With regard to spawning fish, the ministry believes a strong water flow through spawning areas likely kept them clean of debris while the fish were migrating upstream a few weeks ago.
The dam has a controversial history.
In 2017, consultants hired by the government recommended demolishing the concrete aprons which would reopen the river to migrating fish and help rehabilitate native fish populations in Lake Superior's Black Bay.
Numerous groups including the North Shore Steelhead Association and Red Rock Fish and Game Club spoke out against this, arguing that removing the dam would reopen spawning habitat for sea lamprey.
In 2020, the government announced that it would repair the aging structure rather than demolish it, citing a study that found it was at high risk of failure.