CORNWALL, Ontario – The gates of a control dam in Iroquois will be lowered Thursday to help slow the current of the St. Lawrence River as tugboat salvage operations in Cornwall ramp up.
Ontario Power Generation said Tuesday afternoon the gates will be lowered for two weeks.
The dam is used to control the level of the river between the R.H. Saunders Generating Station in Cornwall and the control dam in Iroquois and have been open for the entire summer.
“It’ll cut the flow of water and help with the tugboat recovery,” said Neal Kelly, a spokesperson with OPG, in an interview.
Officials have complained that the swift moving river at Cornwall helped contribute to two tugboats capsizing weeks ago, and has also hampered salvage efforts.
Kelly said there will be no impact to power generation at Cornwall.
Boaters will need to use the Iroquois Lock for passage on the river.
The tugboats Lac Manitoba and LCM 131 remain capsized, but stable, in the river at Cornwall.
