More than two weeks after dam breaks and a flood, new woes have emerged in mid-Michigan where erosion threatens homes along the shoreline of Sanford Lake just northwest of Midland.
2020 Midland dam break
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
After Midland floods, a question: Where did waters carry toxic chemicals?
Scientists and environmental activists say they’re hopeful recent floodwaters didn’t undo years of work to clean up dioxin contamination in the Tittabawassee River, but they’re awaiting sampling results to know for sure.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Before and after satellite photos show damage wrought by mid-Michigan floods
New satellite images, taken one year apart, contrast what Edenville and Sanford dams looked like before and after floods, as state and federal investigators investigate their failure.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Congress launches probe of Michigan, federal oversight of failed Midland dam
A U.S. House committee opens an investigation into last month’s failure of two Midland dams, one of which had been flagged for decades as unsafe by federal regulators.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
How weak regulations failed to prevent catastrophe at notorious Midland dam
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.
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.