We were contacted this morning by Josh Castonguay of Green Mountain Power Corporation who let us know there was a serious break in the penstock that leads from Joe's Pond to the power plant in the valley below.  The upper end of the penstock was replaced last year, but the break was apparently underground near the power plant.  They were alerted Friday evening that there was an outage at the plant, and when they arrived, found much of the earth near the plant and parts of the building's foundation gone, eroded from the rushing water.  

The situation is now stabilized and heavy equipment has been brought in to begin repairing the damage.  Castonguay said the plant will not be operational for some time, but he emphasized the water level in Joe's Pond should not be impacted.  The area will be restricted to workers only, so they ask that people do not try to go there.  The earth around the plant is still unstable, making it dangerous even for workers.  

Fred and I walked down, but stayed well back from the huge hole where earth had been washed away from the power plant.  We will be happy to share the pictures we took this morning, (here's a slide show) but will respect the restrictions and won't be going there again until it is declared safe to do so.  GMP will keep us informed and we will pass any further information on to you as we get it.  In the slide show, you will see it as we did, first as we walked down the steep hill, where there has been a temporary road constructed over the existing penstock in order to get down to the plant, and finally, as we climbed back up the hill towards the tower to where our car was parked.

JPA president, Tom Dente, has been made aware of the situation and will have more details at the next meeting of JPA regarding any possible impacts on the pond.  As of this morning, the future of the West Danville power plant is uncertain.  The building and all the equipment inside is considered a total loss at this time.

I have posted information about the West Danville Power plant and the penstock in earlier blogs.  To find those, enter "penstock" in the search bar at the right above.