‘Ghosts of capitalism’: the push to dismantle America’s decrepit dams

Derelict dams crisscrossing the country's rivers and tributaries disrupt the paths of migrating fish and pose a flood hazard

On a muggy day in late August, George Jackman, an aquatic ecologist who works on habitat restoration, stood at the edge of Quassaick Creek in upstate New York.

The Quassaick, which flows through the small city of Newburgh, New York, and spills into the Hudson River, was unusually shallow after a summer with little rain. It looks bucolic now," Jackman said. But it can be a raging torrent."