Haddonfield Sun

By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Haddonfield Sun
Pedestrians walking past Hopkins Pond might have noticed a changing landscape in the past month and a half.
Camden County targeted the dams at Hopkins Pond for several safety repairs.
A number of trees have been torn down within the past month along the bank of the dam at Hopkins Pond. Ken Shuttleworth, county spokesperson, said the tree removal stems from a county inspection program of several dams in the county in 2007.
The $2 million program for ongoing inspection and maintenance of county dams stemmed from a flooding incident in Burlington County back in 2004.
On July 14 in 2004 several Burlington County dams were overtaken by a flash flood that saw more than 11 inches of rain fall in the county over a 24-hour period. The NJDEP Bureau of Dam Safety reported that 13 dams in the south branch of the Rancocas Creek in Vincentown failed following the torrential downpours.
Several homes around the area were either flooded or damaged beyond repair stemming from the dams’ failure during the flooding.
See this week’s print edition of The Sun for the full story.