Logan Northern Canal Disaster – Fifth Installment

Just as the victims of the landslide caused by the collapse of the Logan Northern Canal were being laid to rest, federal engineers were floating proposals for the future of the canal. The first is to eliminate the canal and divert the water north to the Logan, Hyde Park, Smithfield Canal. The second is to keep the Logan Northern in operation, but to re-route it through pipes under Canyon Road, the road involved in the disaster that killed 43-year-old Jacqueline Leavey and her two children, 13-year-old Victor Alanis and 12-year-old Abbey Alanis.

Both proposals would be very expensive but canal company shareholders, area towns and cities and engineers must come together to make a decision. To make the first proposal work, the Logan, Hyde Park and Smithfield Canal would have to be upgraded to accept the additional water with flows of 250 cubic feet per second or 112,000 gallons per minute. Estimated price tag is $17.2 million dollars. Officials think option two could be just as expensive. Regardless, the stakeholders in the future of the canals and the water must cooperate to pursue a safe and effective remedy to the situation.

Meanwhile, family and friends remembered the Leavey family at a funeral mass celebrated Tuesday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Hyde Park. Approximately 150 people attended the mass which was celebrated in Spanish. Beforehand, those in attendance were treated to photo presentation that conveyed the highlights of the lives lost.