Federal agency to add warning signs at dams across Pa., after boy dies in ‘drowning machine’
Updated 6:35 AM;
Today 6:35 AM
The Army Corp of Engineers erected four red signs April 1, 2021, exactly one week after a boy drowned at the dam.
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The drowning of an 11-year-old boy at a low head dam in the Codorus Creek on property owned by the Army Corp of Engineers has prompted the agency to start placing warning signs at other dams.
The agency on Thursday erected four large warning signs at the dam where Payton Gonzalez was fatally injured March 25 in Jackson Township. The dam is located where Hershey Road meets the creek. There were no such signs warning of the dangers of the dam when Payton walked to the creek along the Trolley Trail and abandoned railroad tracks with a friend to swim.
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.
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