Wednesday, May 20th

Michigan dam had repeated safety violations before flooding

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows Windover High School surrounded by floodwaters in Midland, Mich., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - A hydroelectric dam that failed to hold back floodwaters this week in Michigan was the target of lengthy investigations by federal regulators, who revoked the facility's license over safety violations two years before the flooding that forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes.

Boyce Hydro Power's history of violations lasted throughout the 14 years the company was authorized to run the nearly century-old Edenville dam, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which said it repeatedly raised concerns about the dam's ability to prevent flooding during extreme conditions because of its inadequate spillway capacity.

The dam on the Tobacco and Tittabawassee rivers, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) north of Detroit, was among several barriers overtaken Tuesday by floodwaters that chased people from communities in central Michigan. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned that Dow Chemical Co.'s hometown of Midland could end up under 9 feet of water. She said the state will investigate the dam operators.

The commission ordered Boyce Hydro to form an independent team to investigate three other dams it owns on the rivers that were vulnerable to a "cascading failure scenario." Among them was the Sanford Dam, which also was damaged.

The commission planned to send a staff engineer to the site to assist with the investigation as soon as it could be done safely, Chairman Neil Chatterjee said in a statement.

The governor said the state was "reviewing every possible legal recourse."

Lee Mueller, architect and co-member manager of the company, did not return calls for comment Wednesday from The Associated Press.

A look at the Sanford Dam on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. After the Edenville Dam failed and the Tittabawassee River flooded surrounding areas, many residents were urged to leave their homes and to brace themselves for the possibility of the Sanford Dam to collapsing. Water flowed over the top of it through the night, but the structure is still in place. (Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP)

The Edenville dam, in Michigan's Gladwin and Midland counties, includes a series of earthen embankments totaling about 6,600 feet (2,012 meters) long, with a maximum height of nearly 55 feet (16.8 meters). It forms a 2,600-acre reservoir known as Wixom Lake, a popular boating and fishing spot.

The dam has two reinforced concrete spillways to carry away excess water when reservoir levels get too high.

In its 2018 order revoking Boyce Hydro's license, the commission said its primary concern about the dam was its inability to handle "the probable maximum flood" - the type of event that could be expected from "the most severe combination of critical meteorologic and hydrologic conditions that is reasonably possible" in the area.

Commission guidelines require that dams be able to withstand such a flood or have enough spillway capacity to prevent reservoirs from rising dangerously high. The Edenville dam's spillway capacity was only about 50 percent of the probable maximum flood, the commission said.

A look at the Sanford Dam on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. After the Edenville Dam failed and the Tittabawassee River flooded surrounding areas, many residents were urged to leave their homes and to brace themselves for the possibility of the Sanford Dam collapsing. Water flowed over the top of it through the night, but the structure is still in place. (Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP)

Inadequate spillway capacity is a common problem for U.S. dams, an Associated Press investigation found in 2019.

The commission said it warned the dam's previous owners of the need for improvements in early 1999, but no changes were made before the license was transferred to Boyce Hydro in 2004.

Boyce Hydro said it planned to build an auxiliary spillway on the Tittabawassee River that year and was studying the need for another on the Tobacco River, the commission said.

But the company failed to complete either project, repeatedly seeking extensions and missing deadlines, the agency said. Among its other violations: performing unauthorized dam repairs and earth-moving and failing to file an adequate public safety plan, maintain recreation facilities or monitor water quality.

For more than a decade, Boyce Hydro "knowingly and willfully refused to comply with major aspects of its license ... with the result that public safety has been put at risk, and the public has been denied the benefits, particularly project recreation, to which it is entitled," the commission's order said.

"The record demonstrates that there is no reason to believe that Boyce Hydro will come into compliance," the commission added. The company "has displayed a history of obfuscation and outright disregard of its obligations."

The company twice lowered Wixom Lake's level without permission after the federal license was revoked, said Nick Assendelft, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, which has overseen the Edenville barrier since its federal license was withdrawn.

A search and rescue boat is deployed as Saginaw Road is closed at Drake due to water over the road while floodwater rises in Midland, Mich., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

The department was pursuing enforcement action for the violation and resulting damage to natural resources when the dam gave way, Assendelft said. A lawsuit filed April 30 says the lengthy drawdowns in 2018 and 2019 killed "thousands, if not millions" of freshwater mussels, many listed as endangered species.

The Four Lakes Task Force, an authority formed by the two counties and area property owners, agreed to buy all four dams on the rivers from Boyce Hydro last December and was planning to close the deal within the next couple of months, spokeswoman Stacey Trapani said.

The group planned to raise $32 million for the purchase and for major upgrades and maintenance, she said.

Now, the status of the deal is unclear.

"We're still in emergency mode at the moment," Trapani said. "As soon as we are able, we'll start assessments so we can determine a path forward."

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Associated Press Writer Mike Casey in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

This photo shows a view of a dam on Wixom Lake in Edenville, Mich., Tuesday, May 19, 2020. People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area. (Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP)

Kristi, who declined to provide her last name, holds up a sign as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses members of the media and Midland County residents during a press conference at the temporary shelter at Midland High School, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. Whitmer spoke of response efforts to severe flooding caused by dam failures upstream of the Tittabawassee River. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

A Michigan State Police trooper waves off residents as they begin to gather to see the ruins of the Curtis Road Bridge on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 in Edenville Township north of Midland. After two days of heavy rain, the Edenville Dam failed and flood waters rushed south, ravaging the landscapre in its path. (Jake May/The Flint Journal, MLive.com via AP)

Carol Ouellette stands on her front porch, surrounded by floodwater, Tuesday, May 19, 2020 in Beaverton, Mich. An evacuation order was released the night before for residents of Sanford and Wixom Lakes, warning of "imminent dam failure," but Ouellette was not able to transport her cats from her home, leading her to stay put. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

Midland resident Ritu Patel communicates with family members on her cell phone at a temporary shelter at Midland High School, Wednesday, May 20, 2020 in Midland, Mich. Patel was concerned because her husband had left the shelter to assess the flood damage to their home. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

Volunteers assist evacuated residents at a temporary shelter at Midland High School, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

Firefighters launch a boat as the Tittabawassee River overflows, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Michigan State officers return as the Tittabawassee River overflows, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses members of the media and Midland County residents during a press conference at the temporary shelter at the school, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. Whitmer spoke of response efforts to severe flooding caused by dam failures upstream of the Tittabawassee River. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

Dan Dionne points to where the water level was next looks to his home, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Edenville, Mich. Some people living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area returned to the area to survey the damage. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

People head to downtown Midland, Mich., to check out the flood level early Wednesday morning, May 20, 2020. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right, walks a corridor at Midland High School before addressing members of the media and Midland County residents during a press conference at the temporary shelter at the school, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. Whitmer spoke of response efforts to severe flooding caused by dam failures upstream of the Tittabawassee River. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

A view looking west on North Saginaw Road as the Tittabawassee River overflows, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Mich. People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Floodwater surrounds gas pumps at Wixom Lake Gas & Launch Tuesday, May 19, 2020, along the Tittabawassee River in Beaverton, Mich. (Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)

Don Thomas rows Nick Maki, left, and son Jason Thomas past Jason's red 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee, barely visible above the flooding, after picking up Jason's two family cats from his flooded home in Midland. Jason Thomas said, "We walked out last night, me, my wife and three kids. Other than the pictures put up high or upstairs, everything else is gone." Breached dams further up the Tittabawassee River flooded downtown Midland, Mich. on Wednesday May 20, 2020. (Daniel Mears/ The Detroit News via AP)

A look at the Sanford Dam on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. After the Edenville Dam failed and the Tittabawassee River flooded surrounding areas, many residents were urged to leave their homes and to brace themselves for the possibility of the Sanford Dam collapsing. Water flowed over the top of it through the night, but the structure is still in place. (Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP)

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows homes and other buildings surrounded by floodwaters in Midland, Mich., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows Northwood University surrounded by floodwaters in Midland, Mich., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

This photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows the flooded Tittabawassee River around the areas in Midland, Mich., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

A look at the Sanford Dam on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. After the Edenville Dam failed and the Tittabawassee River flooded surrounding areas, many residents were urged to leave their homes and to brace themselves for the possibility of the Sanford Dam to collapsing. Water flowed over the top of it through the night, but the structure is still in place. (Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP)