Regulators warned for 25 years that mid-Michigan dams were dangerous, yet their problems persisted. Dam safety experts say the failure to fix the dams is emblematic of the country’s broken regulatory system.
2020 Midland dam break
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan should have protected public from unsafe Edenville Dam, experts say
Michigan officials say they needed to wait for a report before demanding repairs to a dam that federal authorities had already deemed dangerous. Experts disagree: ‘You have to take action, not wait.’
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Michigan EGLE can’t be trusted to probe its role on dam failures
A lawyer involved in the Flint water crisis argues Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should order an independent investigation into the state environmental agency’s role in the Midland-area dam disaster.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer launches investigation into Midland dam failures
The state launches investigation into the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams in mid-Michigan last week, which prompted the evacuations of more than 10,000 residents. But critics say the state agency that oversaw the dam shouldn’t investigate itself.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Two heirs bought Midland dams as a tax shelter. Tragedy followed.
Heirs to the fortune of the Boy Scouts founder — an architect and a bagpiper — purchased the Edenville Dam as an investment to avoid taxes, records show. For 14 years, the family trust clashed with government officials on taxes, regulations, fishing and other issues. Then came the rains.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
See Dow Chemical ponds, dioxin cleanup site after Michigan flooding
Aerial views of flood waters in and around Midland underscore the environmental challenges facing the region following dam breaks and historic flooding this week.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
As Midland flooding recedes, a flood of class-action lawsuits begins
At least two cases have been filed in federal court seeking to hold the owners of two mid-Michigan dams responsible for catastrophic flooding this week.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan GOP calls for Nessel to step down from investigation into dam failure
Republicans say Michigan’s attorney general has a conflict of interest because she recently sued the owner of a failed dam over illegally drawing down water from Wixom Lake in 2018 and 2019, killing mussels.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan regulators moved fast on dangerous dam. To protect mussels.
In court papers, the owners of a dam that failed this week near Midland acknowledged it was considered unsafe for decades. But Michigan’s only action against the dam was a suit contending it lowered water and killed freshwater mussels.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Midland flooding highlights Michigan’s aging stockpile of neglected dams
The state’s 2,581 dams, many aging and in need of repair, get little attention from legislators, but their maintenance and costs raise concerns, particularly as water levels rise in Michigan.