By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
Grovers Mill Pond has been restored to pristine condition with the completed dredging of 65,000 cubic yards of silt.
In August, the Army Corps of Engineers and associated contractors began work on the pond, world famous as the general location where Martians landed in the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast.
The pond had become filled with nutrient-laden silt and experienced unbridled, damaging plant growth, making it a community eyesore and causing an unpleasant smell each summer.
The project was completed Nov. 1, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said, on the last day of dredging permitted by environmental constraints.
Dredging was limited to three months per year to protect hibernating frogs, bald eagles and spawning fish.
An original estimate anticipated that 50,000 cubic yards of material would be dredged from the pond. When that estimate was met early, an additional 15,000 was dredged, at a cost of $150,000 to the township.
”The more you can get out, the better you are,” Mayor Hsueh said.
The project cost a total of $4.97 million, with $1.65 million coming from the township, he said.
A dredging boat equipped with a vacuum-like apparatus was floated on the pond to remove the silt. The silt was transported through a long system of pipes to a storage area in nearby Community Park.
Helen Jensen, project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, said the silt will be left to dry for a year, and next summer it will be combined with the original soil and used as topsoil.
The pond’s depth was restored to 9 feet at the deepest spot, compared to 2 or 3 feet before work began, the mayor said. This increased depth will allow the presence of oxygen for aquatic life and create better water flow to reduce stagnation.
Ms. Jensen said the pond will be restocked with game fish by the state in the spring. Fish habitat structures, which are wood sticks cemented into buckets that stick haphazardly out of the water, were put in place to facilitate fishing, she said.
The pond had been deteriorating since the 18th century, according to some residents.
Dick Snedeker, local resident and chairman of the mayor’s task force for restoring the pond, said in the summer, the surface of the pond was covered with a green material from decaying vegetation, which emitted hydrogen sulfide.
”The whole area smelled of rotten eggs,” Mr. Snedeker said.
Several attempts were made in the past to fix the problem to no avail. Its former owners, the Dey family, drained the pond during the 1970s. The township even treated the pond with herbicides.
The restoration project was put on the back burner in 1993 after the township changed from a committee to a council form of government, Mr. Snedeker said, and the pond task force was disbanded.
Eight years later, Mayor Hsueh came to office and made it a priority, he said.
”It just feels so wonderful that so much progress has been made,” Mr. Snedeker said.
Dick Dahl, who lives alongside the lake and has served on pond task forces, said he was glad the mayor spearheaded the project.
”There wasn’t always the enthusiasm from township authorities,” Mr. Dahl said.
Mayor Hsueh said he would like to see the pond to turned into a water sport recreation area, with canoeing and kayaking. There may also ice skating as early as this winter, depending on the weather, he said.
The Corps will be monitoring the condition of the lake for five years, to ensure the problem doesn’t return.

