Ontario Power Generation

LOWER NOTCH GENERATING STATION

PLANT GROUP: Northeast Plant Group
DRAINAGE BASIN: Ottawa River
RIVER: Montreal
NEAREST POPULATION CENTRE: North Cobalt (35 KM (22 Miles) Northwest)
IN SERVICE DATE: 1971
BUILT BY: Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario
Asset Transferred to Ontario Power Generation: April 1, 1999
NUMBER OF UNITS: 2
CONTROL: Remote from Porcupine TS

HISTORICAL NOTE:
Late in the summer of 1971, two young archaeologists were walking along a newly formed beach near the construction site of the Lower Notch station. Suddenly one of them stopped. His trained eyes had spotted a number of fire-cracked rocks exposed when the level of the Montreal River was lowered during the building of the generating plant.

They realized they had tumbled upon an ancient campsite for they had uncovered the remains of an old trading post and Indian campsite. The site, called the Montreal River site, contained three distinctive stratifications each containing a different civilization. The upper layer called "historic" contained artifacts from a trading site dating to 1830. The second layer classified as "woodland component" contained such artifacts as pottery and arrowheads left by pottery bearing Indians between the years 200 and 500 A.D. The third layer called "archaic" contained such objects as scrapers made of rock and clippings from crude stone tools which were estimated to date back to between 2000 BC and 5000 BC.

Some of the first recorded history of the river involves the Company of the North, absorbed by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821 which in 1679 built a trading post known as the House of the North, on an island between the mouths of the Montreal and Matabitchewan Rivers. In the early years of its existence the House of the North which suffered continual raids by the Iroquois Indians, was abandoned and reopened several times, and ownership of its trading licence changed hands regularly. Later in the 1880's after the House of the North was washed away by rushing waters of the river, farms were developed in the vicinity of the mouth of the river along its shores.

The Montreal River has played an important part in the lumber industry for close to 100 years by serving as a transportation medium for timber.

An outburst of mining activity in the Cobalt area in the early 1900's created a demand for power. By 1904, Cobalt was the scene of the wildest mining boom in Ontario's history. Every northbound train was crowded with fortune hunters, claim jumpers, promoters and adventurers.

Cobalt was named in 1904 by a Provincial Geologist, Dr. W.G. Miller. The word Cobalt is derived from the German Kabalt meaning goblin or demon of the mines. In English, it signified the greyish, brittle ore found in the region from which large and rich quantities of silver were refined.

In those days liquor could not be sold in a mining town, and some fortunes were made not from mining but from satisfying the thirsty. The Ontario government established its first northern provincial police detachment at Cobalt to maintain law and order.

Silver was stockpiled like cordwood at the Cobalt station, and when the OPP investigated their first highgrading case they recovered more silver than was reported stolen.

There were 104 mines operating or being developed by 1908, and in 1911 the camp shipped 893 246 kg (31,507,971 oz) of silver. The Cobalt area has produced more than 14 million kg (500 million oz) of silver in its life. From 1960 - 1970 alone, it averaged 141 750 kg (5 million oz) annually.

In the early days, the miners ripped the silver away from the surface and the surrounding area was slashed and scarred with massive rock cuts.

The town of Cobalt sprang up haphazardly. Houses were perched on rocky bluffs and the streets wound their way between them in glorious confusion. Many of the original flat-topped houses and false-fronted stores still stand, preserving the atmosphere of an early mining settlement.

Several major companies got their start in Cobalt. Sam Buckovetsky opened his first clothing store in a tiny log cabin, and went on to build a chain across the north. There was a wild race to get the first telephone lines into town, and when Cobalters heard that the New Liskeard-owned Northern Telephone Company was going to win they started to chop down the poles. But Northern Telephone got the franchise and went on to build one of the biggest communications systems in the province.

Two newspapers started in Cobalt - "The Nugget", now published in North Bay, and the "Northern Daily News", now at Kirkland Lake. The respected mining journal, the "Northern Miner", was also born at Cobalt although today it's published in Toronto.

Lawyers had a field day in the early years with countless disputes involving mining claims. The revision of the Ontario Mining Act was directly due to the Cobalt boom.

To supply the mines with the compressed air needed for operating equipment underground, a unique plant was built at Ragged Chute, about 16 km (10 miles) southeast of the town on the Montreal River (see Retired Hydroelectric Stations).

Cobalt fell upon hard times after the first world war. The price of silver dropped and Cobalt's miners dispersed around the world. During the Depression, there wasn't a single mine operating. Cobalters were reduced to grubbing in the old mine dumps for specks of silver. Dozens of buildings were torn down and the population dropped to little more than 2,000. The old town's luck began to change in the late forties and in recent years improved prices of silver have caused an upsurge in mining and exploration. The Cobalt Refinery, located just south of the town, developed an international reputation for refining silver.

But while the mines picked up and there was a shortage of homes in the town, Cobalt still looked a pretty depressing place. It had lost many of its stores and the main street was lined with empty buildings.

In 1968, a new and aggressive council was elected under Mayor Jack Mathews. The council embarked on a self-help program, building new sidewalks, installing mercury vapour street lights, opening a new subdivision and building a downtown park. Instead of tearing down buildings seized for taxes, they renovated and converted them into needed apartments.

The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario took over the operation of the hydroelectric plants on the Montreal River in 1944 and in 1960 and 1965 carried out hydraulic and geological investigations in the Notch area to determine the feasibility of developing additional power. Each time construction was set aside in favour of more desirable sites, but in 1967 Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario decided to proceed with the Lower Notch development.

On October 19, 1973, Provincial Government Minister Darcy McKeough, along with Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario Chairman George E. Gathercole, officially dedicated the Lower Notch station . Designed to meet the increasing need for electrical power in northeastern Ontario, Lower Notch was the fifth and last station built by the Commission on the historic Montreal River.

MISCELLANEOUS:
The Lower Notch station was built as a peaking station and operates by remote control from the Dymond transformer station near New Liskeard. The Colony - The construction camp facilities were designed for the comfort and convenience of up to 600 employees for a period of three years. The camp was equipped with a recreation hall, cafeteria, first aid building, ambulance, fire hall, service station, barber shop, laundromat, single male employee accommodations and a single women's housing complex.

The combination of good food, and a complete range of modern conveniences provided a home-like environment.

In addition to the single labour camp, a fully serviced and landscaped townsite with 15 portable prefabricated homes, 25 trailers and a school was established adjacent to the site.