Federal agency considers removing low head dam where 11-year-old boy drowned
Updated 5:20 AM;
The Army Corp of Engineers is looking into the option of removing a low head dam on its property in York County after an 11-year-old boy drowned there last week, an official told PennLive.
There were no warning signs posted at the dam on private property on Cordorus Creek at Hershey Road in Jackson Township. Payton Gonzalez walked there with a friend March 25 to swim, but got caught in a strong current and pulled over the dam.
The tragedy exposed a loophole in a new law designed to protect the public from the hidden dangers of low head dams, which can appear harmless but are known as “drowning machines” for their powerful hydraulics that can trap even experienced swimmers wearing life jackets underwater.