The recent drownings of a young couple in the DuPage River have prompted calls for Will County Forest Preserve officials to speed up the removal of a dam in Shorewood.
James Kennedy, of Shorewood, launched a petition April 3 on change.org after Hannah Tammeling, 22, of Plainfield, and Abraham Ramos, 28, of Palatine, drowned in the river near the dam at the Hammel Woods Forest Preserve. Their bodies were found April 1 about a half-mile from where witnesses had seen them struggling in the river near the dam the day before.
The drownings have brought new attention to the low-head dam, which was built in the 1930s for recreational purposes but which also has been the scene of other tragedies over the years. Though the concrete and limestone dam is only about 4 feet above the riverbed, authorities have stressed the dangers of the dam, noting that the boil that churns below it can suck people back into the water and is very difficult to get out of, even for strong swimmers.
The concerns about the Hammel Woods dam echo those about similar structures across the state and nation, including in the Will County city of Wilmington, where about 20 people have died near the Kankakee River dam in the past 35 years.
“I won’t be taking my kids to Hammel Woods anymore because of the dangers of the dam,” Kennedy said after presenting the petition to commissioners at a forest preserve board meeting Thursday.
Forest preserve officials have targeted the Hammel Woods dam for removal but said last week it will take months before studies are completed and permitting is approved.
Kennedy and others want the process to move more quickly.
Kennedy’s petition had about 1,200 signatures as of Monday. He said more than 800 of those came from people who live in Joliet, Shorewood and the surrounding area. Many who signed the petition said the recent drownings was their reason for doing so.
“Together we can send a strong message that one more life lost is one too many,” the petition reads. “Regardless of how or why people end up trapped in the dam, removal of this drowning machine as soon as possible will immediately mitigate these dangerous conditions forever.”
There have been other drownings in the river near the dam. In 2013, a 24-year-old Itasca man drowned while swimming. In 1993, a Joliet man died after jumping into the river to retrieve some fishing gear.
In 2015, two men were rescued after their canoe overturned in the river after it went over the dam.
In the most recent incident two weeks ago, Tammeling had gone into the water to help Ramos, but it was unclear how or why he went into the river, a Fire Department official said.
The dam’s removal was studied in the 1980s but was met by public opposition and the board instead moved forward with safety improvements, including a portage around the dam for boaters as well as dam repairs. In 2003, the Conservation Foundation studied five dams along the DuPage River, including the Hammel Woods dam, and suggested removal would improve safety and be beneficial to aquatic species.
Another study in 2017 identified removal of the dam as a high priority. Funding from the Lower DuPage River Watershed Coalition, which was formed in 2012 to address issues along the DuPage River, became available in 2019 for the dam removal. On Thursday, commissioners approved a second phase of studies for engineering for the project.
Forest Preserve District officials have said the dam removal may not happen until next year, noting that in addition to the engineering study, approvals for a permit allowing the removal are still needed from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“We’re working through the process,” said Will County Forest Preserve District Board President Laurie Summers, D-Crete.
Commissioner Tom Weigel, R-New Lenox, asked if the timetable for dam removal could be reviewed or accelerated. He also asked district staff to review safety measures, such as additional signage, that could be taken until the dam is removed.
Signs are posted along the shoreline above and below the dam warning kayakers to port their watercraft to the other side of the dam. A large sign warning against swimming and wading in the water also is posted on an overlook at the dam. Ralph Schultz, chief operating officer for the district, said the district is talking to its risk management agency to determine whether additional signage or other safety measures are necessary.
Forest preserve Commissioner Joe VanDuyne, a Wilmington Democrat whose district includes Shorewood, noted that Wilmington city officials have grappled with similar issues over its dam.
The city installed warning signs in English and Spanish near the dam and in 2018 approved an exclusionary zone that prohibits people from entering the Kankakee River 100 feet north of the dam and 50 feet south of it. City Council members also briefly discussed installing a chain link fence to keep people away from the dam but quickly dropped the idea because it would limit access for first responders, according to city officials.
Suggestions to remove the Wilmington dam have been met by resistance from officials who fear that would mean an end to Island Park, a popular attraction in the city. In 2016, the city hired an engineering firm to study the possibility of putting notches in the dam, or “stepping down” the dam, to help break up the force of the undertow at its base.
Since the 1980s, the Wilmington dam has claimed the lives of many people including children, the elderly and rescuers. In 2006, a 4-year-old boy was saved after falling in the water near the dam, but the three people who tried to save him, including the boy’s mother, drowned. In 2000, two adults drowned after their canoe capsized when it went over the dam. In 2016, a young brother and sister died after the 12-year-old boy went into the water to touch the dam and his sister went in after him to try to save him. Most recently, a woman died in 2017 after kayaking near the dam.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelancer.