Tocks Island Dam
Large geographic areas of the United States are controlled by the federal government for a variety of purposes including conservation, recreation, or energy production. While most of these land projects serve the public good, they can meet pushback if they infringe on private property or are seen as harmful to the environment. A 1955 flood of the Delaware River, which forms the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, prompted the federal government to authorize the construction of a dam for flood control and generation of hydroelectric power. The dam, which was to be built near Tocks Island, would flood a significant portion of land upriver. To address this issue, the government began buying land alongside the Delaware River as well as seizing it using eminent domain. This aggressive land acquisition forced hundreds of families from their homes and was seen as unjust by the affected residents. One such resident, Nancy Shukaitis, fought against the construction of the Tocks Island Dam for nearly a decade by forming the Delaware Valley Conservation Association and testifying in front of Congress. Shukaitis’ fight was ultimately successful, and the dam was deauthorized in 1976. The land that the government acquired now forms the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Shukaitis, an elected member of the Monroe County Commissioners, won an Environmental Stewardship Award from the National Park Service. She donated her papers to the Libraries Special Collections.
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Public Works. Subcommittee on Water Resources. Tocks Island Deauthorization: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Water Resources of the Committee on Public Works, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress… a Bill to Terminate the Authorization for the Tocks Island Reservoir Project as part of the Delaware River Basin Project … July 23 and 26, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1976.
Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/10660533
A version of this text has been digitized and is available through Hathitrust.