It's a landmark piece of a small Lewis County village and it's in danger of disappearing. The DEC labeled the Croghan Dam a hazard. But as our Rachael Paradis tells us, there are efforts in the works to make sure the dam gets repaired and not torn down.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

LEWIS COUNTY, N.Y. -- "It's part of our culture, part of our heritage," said Glen Gagnier of the Lewis County Development Corporation.

The Croghan Dam is more than 90 years old and the village landmark has been crumbling since the 1980s. The DEC says the dam must go, but some people aren't ready to let that happen.

"What we're trying to do is to show that the dam, although it looks terrible, is still stable," Gagnier said.

People from the DEC have labeled the dam a class c hazard, which means that they're scared if the dam fails, it could damage property or kill someone.

Gagnier is looking at an alternate solution to tearing it down. He hopes a grant from the USDA will help restore the dam and get rid of those concerns.

"If we can save that piece of infrastructure and develop it, maintain it, the long run is the viability of the community, put in new businesses, put people to work. That's the name of the game," Gagnier said.

And he's not the only one thinking long term. A group of St. Lawrence University students are trying to find a way to take advantage of the green energy that already exists at the dam, like using it for hydro-production.

"We would use water from the river, combined with electricity from the dam, to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. So you'd send the oxygen to local hospitals and use hydrogen to fuel any hydrogen powered vehicle," said SLU senior Michael Petroni.

Using hydro-power to keep a dam and a community running for years to come.

If you would like more information on the efforts to save the dam, visit Croghan Dam Restoration Initiative for Local Business and Renewable Energy's Facebook page at facebook.com

For general information about the project, visit lewiscountyny.org.