Dangers of Edenville dam
failure evaded state scrutiny
The Detroit News,
by
Beth LeBlanc
Original Article
Posted By: Daria,
5/21/2020 11:50:25 AM
After federal regulators pulled the license of a Midland County dam because of the high risk it posed to the public in 2018, it ceded oversight to state regulators. But with less stringent state safety rules to protect people and property, Michigan regulators turned their attention, instead, to the protection of delicate underwater life. Days after feds revoked the dam's license to generate power, the state assumed oversight, inspected the dam and declared it and its spillways to be in "fair structural condition."
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 5/21/2020 11:54:20 AM (No. 417779)
This is a state that refused to fix the lead problem in the water supply of Flint, so I am not surprised that the Governor/Legislature didn't fix these dams either. Are you done voting for your own destruction yet Michigan? Had enough of the disrespect from your state officials? You vote for these people again, this is all on your own heads.
17 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
MickTurn 5/21/2020 12:03:27 PM (No. 417785)
Dam contractors: Yea, let's put the money in OUR pockets, who needs any stinkin' Maintenance...the Democrap story repeated every day on one structure or another...and who's first to whine about crumbling infrastructure?...You guessed it, SO THEY CAN STEAL more money!
12 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Philipsonh 5/21/2020 12:08:08 PM (No. 417796)
Same as in Ca. some years ago, where the State was more interested in a single type of fish than the financial well being of thousands of farmers who needed the water they were prohibited from getting.
16 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Lonestar Jack 5/21/2020 12:10:05 PM (No. 417798)
Right along with their plans (or stupidity).
5 people like this.
I worked as a project manager on several relicensings of multiple hydro projects. The state regulators are mostly only interested in bugs and bunnies, not what is best for the project. Michigan is probably the most anti-dam state in the union, wanting to remove all dams so the rivers can run free (to appease the envirowhackos) which the endangers all communities along the rivers.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
EJKrausJr 5/21/2020 12:43:18 PM (No. 417839)
First the water in Flint is undrinkable. Now dams under state control are collapsing. Hey Gretchen, maybe you should get your state employees back to work, because they are not doing their jobs. And you want to be VP, God help us all.
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
skacmar 5/21/2020 12:46:30 PM (No. 417842)
All I heard when I read the article was blah blah blah blah, don't lower the water levels to save the fresh water mussels. The State of Michigan will need to sue itself for this catastrophe. The Attorney General and Governor (Whitless) who are calling for the investigation into the flooding are the ones who sues to keep the water levels high. What did they think would happen? People wanted to lower the water levels but were prevented due to a lawsuit from the State of Michigan! I haven't heard this reported on any local Michigan news. Mussels over people (during these uncertain times of course).
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 5/21/2020 2:24:52 PM (No. 417938)
I'm from the State of Michigan I'm here to help fresh water mussels not people. Oh wait, I didn't even help the mussels. They've been flushed.
4 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Eagle4ever 5/21/2020 2:48:00 PM (No. 417968)
But, but, but, the Govenor and her Attorney General are wearing their face masks.Priorities don't you know.
3 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 5/21/2020 3:10:27 PM (No. 417990)
"... Michigan regulators turned their attention, instead, to the protection of delicate underwater life."
I figured it'd be transgenders instead of underwater life.
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Luandir 5/21/2020 4:03:35 PM (No. 418038)
I think it's time for Frau Blucher to consider whether there is, after all, a God, and whether He might be getting angry.
0 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 5/21/2020 4:40:57 PM (No. 418063)
I commented yesterday that the original owners Bryce Hydro, was making very little money, annual income for the whole company, with four lakes/dams was $1.4 million. That is piddling on this scale. So, the dams weren't getting repaired, were drawn down, and the federal permit pulled.
Then a new organization, Four Lakes Task Force, apparently made up of landowners on the lakes, purchased them from Bryce Hydro.
Apparently the primary goal of the Four Lakes Task Force was to keep lake levels up do that their adjacent properties were nice, lake front properties again.
OOPS. Bryce Hydro was smart to get clear of this mess before it failed. Yes, they "should have" maintained the dams.....but with what? They were essentially broke, on that scale.
0 people like this.
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A preventable tragedy.