Landslide Hill won't last until winter (12 photos)

Landslide Hill in the Hiawatha Highlands area is an immediate threat and will not last until winter, says Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority General Manager Linda Whalen.

At a conservation authority board meeting yesterday, Whalen reported the hill is dangerously unstable and has eroded dramatically in the past few heavy rainstorms.

Board members viewed slides taken of the hill and Whalen told them the damage was probably even greater than illustrated, because there had been at least one heavy storm since the photos were taken.

Afterward, SooToday.com visited the hill and found two huge ravines, several metres across and deep, running about two-thirds the length of the hill.

"There are some hydro poles, a dam and some homes at the bottom of the hill that could be in danger," said Whalen. "Also the lodge at the top of the hill may be in danger."

The board voted unanimously to begin work to stabilize the hill as soon as possible and conservation authority staff indicated it will begin as soon as equipment and operators can be secured, hopefully within days.

Also at that meeting, Whalen and Frank Tesolin, authority technical advisor, reported that two area flood-control channels are in dire need of repairs.

Sediment and vegetation build-up in the Clarke Creek along Boundary Road is choking the flow of water and placing surrounding homes and the golf course in danger of flooding, Tesolin told the board.

"Until we can either reduce the flow of water into that channel or rebuild it, we need to maintain it," Whalen said. "It was one of the first flood-control channels built and it would not conform to current standards even if we completely restored it to its former state."

Conservation aithority staff want to repair two weirs and clean out the channel along Boundary Road, to keep the water flowing as much as possible.

Staff got a few rough cost estimates for the job and found it will cost about $100,000.

The Fort Creek floodwater channel is also slumping, reported Whalen.

"If they had just put in one pipe from here to here to drain the water that bank would be okay," said Tesolin as he pointed out an area of the west bank that's sliding into the channel. "Now you can see where the bank has slipped and if it falls into the channel it will block the two culverts, flooding the area of Second Line just east of Carmen's Way."

Staff obtained three ball-park estimates for restoring the bank and installing the required pipe, coming up with a rough guess of $75,000.

The conservation authority's board asked staff to pursue funding for these two projects.