London city council votes to decommission Springbank Dam
The final decision puts to rest a debate that's languished in the city for the last decade
London city council voted unanimously Tuesday to decommission the Springbank Dam, putting an end to a back and forth debate that's lasted nearly a decade.
The debate began when the aging structure broke in 2008, when bolts snapped off during a test.
A recent report from city staff recommended decommissioning the dam.
A number of environmental studies have shown local species of fish, turtles and freshwater mussels do better without the dam than with it.
Conservation officials have even been breeding and releasing some species of turtles that have been on the brink of extinction, which was thanks partly to the yearly pattern of damming for the purposes of flood control along the Thames River.
Many of the people who attended public meetings hosted by the city and submitted comments about the dam wanted it gone.