This article is by Michael Westendorf, Gailon Totheroh, Mark Johnston, Michael Piwowarski, Marta Manning, and Bella Lindauer.
 |  |  |  |  |  |
June 10, 2020
MIDLAND, Mich. — Midland County Administrator Bridgette Gransden says that when Jenifier Boyer walked into the county’s Emergency Operations Center and said that the Edenville Dam had failed, that’s when she knew this flood would be different. Ms. Boyer is the county’s Emergency Management Coordinator.
“When Jennifer came into the EOC and said the dam failed,” Ms. Gransden said. “To me that was like, ‘OK this is something we’ve never experienced before. We’ve planned for it, but we’ve never experienced it before.”
This report was made possible with a grant from M.R. Electric Construction, Inc.
Please read our Editorial Independence policy to see how our sponsors never influence our journalism.
The Edenville Dam in Gladwin County failed at about 5:45 p.m. on May 19, after heavy rains and flash flooding throughout the state. A little over an hour later, at 6:50 p.m., Sanford Dam also failed causing public closures and evacuations for thousands of Midland County residents.
The rushing waters caused the Tittabawassee River to flood in Midland, shattering the previous record set in 1986. In the end, the river crested at 35.05 feet.
“It’s our reality.”
Katelyn Corrion, who lives on Walden Woods Drive, sat in the parking lot at Calvary Baptist Church, where Samaritan’s Purse is set up to aid flood victims in their cleanup efforts. She recalled being at work as the disaster unfolded. After the Edenville Dam broke, she and the others were told to evacuate.
“At first we thought it was a joke because we live so far away from Sanford that we didn’t think we were going to get impacted,” Ms. Corrion told the City Paper.
She went to a friend’s house across town, and then the next morning, the family went to their house on the flooded street by kayak.
“When we got in the basement, there was only a couple inches down there, but our neighbors got feet, and so we were very blessed that we were fortunate more than our neighbors,” Ms. Corrion told the City Paper.
Not only is Ms. Corrion and her family working on getting their basement cleared out, sanitized and rebuilt, they are also helping out their neighbors who are in the same … boat.
“A lot of people are driving around just taking photos and it’s kind of discouraging, because people need help,” Ms. Corrion told the City Paper.
People have stepped up to help, dropping off food, cleaning products and other supplies for the flood victims. Some neighbors even stayed rather than evacuate, so that they could check people’s homes.
“We’re just trying to make sure we get their houses clean, so mold and stuff doesn’t happen, because a lot of the basements are filled with sewage,” Ms. Corrion told the City Paper.
As for insurance, that has been difficult for Ms. Corrion and many other people she knows.
“I used to live out near Sanford, so I know a lot of people out there and some of our friends are not getting flood insurance or not getting money from their flood insurance, because technically it wasn’t a flood; it was a dam failure,” Ms. Corrion told the City Paper.
This report was made possible through the donations of the following individuals:
MATTHEW FELAN
JIMMY E. GREENE
MICHAEL WESTENDORF
NICK BYARD
LAURA S. PIWOWARSKI
DOUG CELLINI
MATT SHOFFNER
BRIAN H. JEAN
ALEX MIHLSTIN
Please read our Editorial Independence policy to see how our donors never influence our journalism.
Joanne Sievewright and her husband were in their condo near Northwood University when the imminent danger came crashing in.
“So many of us were home riding it out. We heard the dam broke, my husband and I sprang into action. I grabbed my cochlear implant backpack and loaded it with all my implant materials. My husband grabbed a small suitcase so we each had a small amount of clothes to last us a few days. We put it on the stairs to go up to the loft,” Ms. Sievewright told the City Paper.
When they tried to get a few more things, including medical paperwork and a laptop, the firemen had arrived. Ms. Sievewright and her husband were told to evacuate, so they grabbed their most important items and left.
“The County Connection bus came and got one load of us,” Ms. Sievewright recalled. “We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to our neighbor on the bus. This [we will] never forget.”
Ms. Sievewright is amazed with the amount of emergency vehicles that went into the flooding danger zone to help people who were stuck.
When she and her husband finally made it to the Midland High School shelter, they were picked up by a son-in-law and taken to his place in Saginaw, just before a section of Gratiot Road was closed off.
When they got home to retrieve what they could, they had a completely flooded basement and three to four feet of flooding on the main level. Damage in her neighborhood was so bad that some buildings were already condemned.
“We salvaged very little as it took so long for the water to recede. So the devastation is real and it’s bad. We lost a lot. We needed to get things out fast as the moisture was starting to ruin the stuff that didn’t get wet. Our place was sitting in water for quite a few days before we could come back,” Ms. Sievewright told the City Paper.
Her condo association has insurance that covers the outside structure. Both of her vehicles, which got towed out, also have insurance coverage.
“We are hoping that FEMA comes through. We live with so many elderly in our neighborhood; we are one of the younger ones. They are done. We are done. We are all tired. The tow truck driver has never seen anything like this. It is truly a disaster zone. We wait for answers,” Ms. Sievewright told the City Paper.
This added to what was already shaping up to be a rough year for Ms. Sievewright, who had to get cochlear implant surgery in February due to increased hearing loss, and activation in March. Then came the shutdown of non-essential business due to COVID-19.
Still, both family members and church volunteers came to offer help for her neighborhood.
“They were just amazing! They were from all over. Even as far as Indiana in the group that helped us. The neighbors are for emotional support, the talking about it, the sharing of food and water and just so much more,” Ms. Sievewright told the City Paper.
Now, she and her husband live in the basement of a relative’s house, returning to their condo daily to get stuff onto the road. As of the day the City Paper spoke with her—May 26—they still had a long way to go.
“I will be fine. I am just so tired and exhausted, but I will be fine. So many people with so many issues. My heart goes out to them,” Ms. Sievewright told the City Paper. “This is never going to be forgotten.”
A sense of community and shared purpose was palpable on Jeffrey Lane on Memorial Day as groups of neighbors and helpers gathered to have lunch outside together, sitting on grass, surrounded by piles of discarded furniture and belongings.
Swartz Creek native Steve White traveled to Midland to bring a free Memorial Day lunch to homeowners cleaning up flood damage in the neighborhood near Woodcrest Elementary School. The ‘Taste and See Catering’ owner told the City Paper he knew he had to contribute to the aid effort after seeing photos of Midland flood damage online.
Mr. White brought a five-person team, including his two sons, to distribute a meal featuring BBQ pork to homeowners working hard to remove belongings from flooded areas in their homes. Many homes in the area neighboring Sturgeon Creek experienced flooding up to the first floor, with some homes sustaining structural damage.
Jeffrey Lane resident Tom Gray told the City Paper he is impressed by how much help Midland residents affected by the flood are receiving from the community. Although flooding hit his neighborhood hard, Mr. Gray experienced an outpouring of help from friends and family, especially after his wife broke her wrist while cleaning up flood damage in their home.
A team from Farmer’s Insurance in Frankenmuth rallied together, bringing powerful pumps to Midland to remove water from Mr. Gray’s home and three neighboring houses. Mr. Gray’s former elementary school lacrosse trainee, now grown, got in touch with the couple after years of no contact to see if they needed help removing debris from their lawn. Help arrived from as far as Texas when a friend sent Tropical Smoothie lunch trays for the neighborhood.
“There’s still three months of work to do on the house,” Mr. Gray told the City Paper. “But thanks to everyone’s help, I can live in it.”
Residents affected by the flood are anxiously awaiting FEMA assistance as they find themselves with insufficient flood insurance or no flood coverage at all. However, the path towards getting aid from FEMA may prove complicated for homeowners.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security FEMA Region V Public Information Officer Sandy Jasmund told the City Paper that FEMA aid for homeowners was dependent on the State of Michigan filing for a disaster declaration. The current emergency declaration only covers funding for emergency protective measures and for conducting assessments.
FEMA inspectors will be working in Midland County in the coming weeks to conduct preliminary damage assessments and gather information from homeowners. The agency will compile the data and present it to the State of Michigan. It is then up to the State to ask the federal government for a disaster declaration.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on June 8 that “within the next week” she will formally request a Major Disaster Declaration for Impacted Areas from President Donald J. Trump.
“This is something that is a very intensive process, where all of the information has to be collected in support of that request,” Ms. Whitmer said, “We want it to be granted, and so we got to get it right, and we’re moving quickly.”
“If a declaration is approved and a resident registers with FEMA for assistance, a home inspection is conducted,” Ms. Jasmund told the City Paper. “During this virtual PDA type of situation with Covid, the inspection may be done through self-assessments using photographs, receipts for repairs and other documentation.”
Ms. Jasmund emphasized that FEMA will not duplicate damage reimbursements covered by insurance.
“FEMA will need to see insurance documents and the amount of damage covered by insurance,” she told the City Paper. “If there are other eligible expenses due to the flood damage, FEMA will review all the documents and explain what is eligible to the resident and the amount FEMA will cover.”
The FEMA spokesperson advised homeowners to take detailed photos of the damage and the cleanup process, to clean up damage as soon as possible, and get in touch with their insurance companies first.
State Farm Insurance agent Scott MacGregor, in Midland, told the City Paper that insurance claims resulting from the dam failures are treated in the same way as flood claims in general.
“FEMA does not differentiate water from a flooded river or major rain storm vs. water from a broken dam,” he said. “Both are categorized the same.”
Mr. MacGregor said his firm is seeing two main types of coverage among insured Midland residents. Some homeowners purchased an independent flood policy from NFIP/FEMA, which is “a separately purchased policy, totally different from standard home insurance.”
Other clients opted to add a rider called ‘back up of sewer and drain’ to their homeowners insurance.
“This covers for damage caused by water coming into the home through drains or sump pump crocks,” MacGregor explained. “This is typically an added rider, and I have seen different companies offer different levels of protection. State Farm has one of the highest limits available for back up of sewer and drain. I have a client who has chosen $80,000 in back up coverage.”
He noted State Farm’s comprehensive auto insurance policy covers flood damage in the same way it would cover “repairs for hitting a deer, or hail.”
According to Mr. MacGregor, the majority of Midland homeowners do not have flood insurance. “A fairly small portion of my clients have NFIP/FEMA policies,” he said. “If a home is in the flood plain, and the mortgage company requires flood insurance, people buy it. But many of those clients cancel the FEMA policy as soon as the mortgage is paid off. We recommend clients keep the flood policy, but with an average premium of $2,000, many have chosen to go without.”
Midland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mark Bone said that only about 8 percent of the homes affected by the flood had insurance coverage.
“Most people that got flooded by this, did not—they weren’t in a flood zone, so they lost their homes and we’re taking calls every day about how we make this right with them and we’re trying to figure that out,” Mr. Bone — who also owns Bone & Bailey Insurance Agency — said.
Homeowners with insurance coverage and approved claims may need to wait for several months before getting a reimbursement from insurance.
“Most insurance policies have a 24 month window for claim reimbursement,” Mr. MacGregor, the State Farm agent, told the City Paper.
At a community meeting organized by Councilman Steve Arnosky (Ward 3) outside Woodcrest Elementary School weeks after the flood event, Sturgeon Creek area homeowners expressed anger and disappointment at the way the City of Midland, the State of Michigan, and FEMA are handling the issue of flood damage reimbursement. The residents related feeling abandoned, overwhelmed by the damage, stuck in an impasse of insurance and FEMA denials. Many were still unable to return to their homes after two weeks of exhausting cleanup and demolition work.
City leaders assembled the June 3 meeting to discuss management of flood damage in the neighborhood encompassing Valorie Lane, St. Marys Drive, Gibson Street, and Joanne Street. Mr. Arnosky, along with City Manager C. Bradley Kaye and Director of Planning & Community Development Grant Murschel, fielded questions and concerns from homeowners with property in the 100-year floodplain region.
“Where is FEMA in all this,” one attendee called out. “In 2017, they were going door to door handing out checks, but where are they now?”
The crowd reacted with disapproval when Mr. Murschel reported that FEMA is treating the flood as a natural event rather than a mechanical failure, and is only now beginning to evaluate affected homes to make recommendations to the State for a disaster declaration.
Messrs. Murschel and Arnosky described options for homeowners experiencing damage totaling more than 50 percent of the home’s value: raising the home if its first floor is below base flood level, filling in the basement if the first floor lies above base flood level, and a potential home buyback program in the future. The city officials gave residents several options for appraising the value of flood damage.
Homeowners raised numerous questions regarding the programs and their limitations.
“I have a brick home that would be impossible to raise,” one resident said. “What am I supposed to do?”
It is also currently unclear where the money for some of the programs would come from. Mr. Kaye reported Midland faces a challenging path forward with raising money for the city contribution for any future home buyback since tax money “can’t be used.”
Several residents voiced a need for increased interactions between homeowners, City officials, and FEMA personnel to help guide homeowners through the complicated process of recovering at least a fraction of what they once owned.
While thousands of Sanford and Midland residents were being told to evacuate their homes, Nick and Breanna Sklar started to see a path of destruction, devastation and heartbreak caused by the catastrophe. They decided to take action offering guidance and support by creating the Facebook group, Mid-Michigan Dam Emergency Relief Support Group.
“We were on Facebook seeing so many of our friends feel scattered and distressed, not really knowing where to go or what to do next,” Ms. Sklar told the City Paper. “So we briefly talked about starting a group that could serve as a centralized location where people have a place to vent, get the resources they need and just get a little bit more organized and efficient with everything.”
In just one week, the group gained over 1,700 members, and has become a major platform to connect residents affected by the flood to various kinds of information, resources and support from members of the community.
Mr. Sklar explained that their personal experience with loss was one of the biggest factors when deciding to begin the group, which has made a positive impact on the community.
“So many people are just lost and confused,” he said, “What about insurance? What about my possessions? So many people are just looking for guidance and that just made it easy for us to step in and help.”
The group is broken down into specific topics such as: community events, S.O.S. (for those in need of immediate help), community news, donation exchange and even emotional support.
Group members continuously reach out to volunteer, prepare meals, donate items, and some even offer temporary housing for those that have been displaced. There are also several members that are not residents of Midland County that reach out through the group with items to donate or offering their time to volunteer helping homeowners clean up.
Ms. Sklar explained to the City Paper that the main goal of the group is to “connect the dots for people.”
“For example, if somebody wants to donate items, we want to help them get to the right home,” Ms. Sklar told the City Paper. “What type of donation is it? Is it monetary donations, is it cleaning supplies, is it hygiene products? We want to make things easier for the flood victims.”
During this trying time, with both the COVID-19 pandemic and the flooding throughout the county, the group is offering a real sense of community by bringing people together to simply help one another. Ms. Sklar is amazed at how many group members want to help through donations, volunteering and serving hot meals. Even those in distress have stepped up to help.
“A lot of people don’t know what volunteering looks like, or they don’t know how they can help, so we try to be out in the field and let them know that really anything, any skill you have, even if you have no skills, hands are helpful,” Ms. Sklar said. “Don’t be afraid to give it a try.”
The couple have been volunteering throughout the community, along with balancing their daily work schedules and schooling their daughters. Their initial plan was to dispatch their own crews to help with cleanup, but after seeing the well-organized structure that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had set up, they spent six days working at several homes per day.
Eventually, they moved on to work with the United Way starting May 26, as they launched their own program to coordinate volunteers. The group seeks to maintain a large footprint so that victims’ needs can be fulfilled.
“We have several people out in the field that we are connected with from most of the areas that were affected by the flood, including Sanford, Gladwin and even out in Shields, so if a group member needs help or sends us an S.O.S., we have people on the ground, with teams in motion, with the ability to get there as soon as possible,” Ms. Sklar told the City Paper.
Mr. Sklar explained how different skill sets are useful during times such as these, stressing that each situation, property and house differs.
“I am an expert at demolition and one of the houses we went into; the owners were concerned with how to tear it down, so I went in and walked them through it, explaining which structures needed to be taken down at certain angles and areas where the water may need shut off,” he said.
Even some individuals with no particular skill set have assisted with simpler tasks such as moving and hauling stuff out and ripping carpet.
The couple said that while volunteering in Sanford one day, there was a small group of people working together to clean a family’s home. They introduced themselves and quickly said where they were from, and Nick and Breanna were the only volunteers from Midland in that group. The other volunteers had come from Clio, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor, as the group has members from all over the country.
“We even had a restaurant from Ann Arbor contact us through the group and they wanted to provide meals, so we connected them to a source that would benefit from their generosity the most,” said Ms. Sklar.
“I think that it’s important for people to know that it’s okay to ask for help,” Ms. Sklar told the City Paper, “It’s okay that you can’t do it on your own. This kind of event is so impactful that nobody can do it alone. It requires a team, all hands on deck. We have experienced a natural disaster that took from us, so we know what it’s like to rebuild, we know what it’s like to lean on each other, and we really want to share what we learned through our experiences.”
Mr. Sklar put extra emphasis on the fact that the recovery effort is entirely community driven.
“I have seen so much compassion this week,” he said. “The homeowners are just beside themselves–they’re at a loss, heartbroken and grieving, sometimes they don’t even understand what’s going on–and when they see complete strangers showing up to help, they are overjoyed and grateful.”
Charities and organizations have also stepped in to help, recruiting volunteers and offering supplies to people in need, showing the compassionate side of Midland County.
Lindsay Henry, content manager at the United Way of Midland County, echoed Mr. Sklar’s sentiment about the response to the flood being a community wide effort.
“The road ahead is one paved in collaboration,” Ms. Henry told the City Paper. “We’re in this together. Everyone is checking egos at the door to serve as boots on the ground and get people the help they need.”
The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation contributed $500,000 to a new fund established by the United Way called the Rise Together fund, to help the families who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the flood. They are also matching additional donations dollar for dollar, up to $500,000.
The Rolin M. Gerstacker Foundation has also contributed $200,000 to the United Way’s fund. Additionally, the Gerstacker Foundation donated $200,000 to the Midland Area Community Foundation’s Flood Relief Fund, and is allocating $350,000 for additional support toward the Midland community and surrounding areas.
TCF Bank, the owner of Chemical Bank, has donated $250,000 to flood relief efforts: $150,000 to Rise Together and $100,000 to MACF’s Flood Relief. Out of the latter, $50,000 is going toward TCF employee assistance and the other $50,000 is being allocated to the Gladwin County Relief Fund and the Gladwin County Community Foundation.
“In a recent meeting with Chemical Bank’s team, I heard that ‘WE had a flood,'” Jenee Velasquez, Executive Director of the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, told the City Paper. “Our hometown bank is with us […] our communities, their employees and their customers.”
TCF has also announced a $10 million Hardship Lending Program, which offers financial assistance to qualifying Midland County citizens.
Ms. Velasquez says that these dollars are providing hope for Midlanders who have lost so much; the cost of a full recovery can only be uncovered over time.
“We collect more information every day,” Ms. Velasquez told the City Paper. “Recovery from a flood is a marathon, not a sprint.”
The Pack Helps Midland, a group of Northwood University students, organized to raise money for the Midland Area Community Foundation and Northwood. The group sold apparel and raised $9,000 in 24 hours.
Gratzi, Big E’s Sports Grill and Molasses Smokehouse donated 4,000 free meals to front line workers and flood victims, as part of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association’s “Feeding Midland” initiative.
Gratzi is a community partner with the City Paper. Please read our Editorial Independence Policy to see how our sponsors never influence our journalism.
Molina Healthcare donated $100,000 to United Way of Midland County, Huntington Bank donated $150,000 through Huntington Foundation, offering assistance to residents affected by flood. Consumers Energy Foundation donated $90,000 to Midland, Saginaw and Gladwin counties; and AT&T donated $25,000 to United Way Midland County and United Way Gladwin County.
The United Way is part of Midland’s Emergency Core Recovery Group, which includes the following organizations: Midland County Emergency Management, Midland County Health and Human Services, the Midland Area Community Foundation, Midland County Salvation Army, and the American Red Cross – Central Bay. Midland County United Way has been in charge of coordinating all volunteer efforts and charitable giving in the area.
“This group created a Midland County Disaster Recovery Plan last summer, so we are prepared and ready to respond accordingly as needs are identified,” Ms. Henry told the City Paper. “As outlined in the plan, United Way’s primary role is volunteer management, and our team is passionate about helping connect opportunities with volunteers to help our neighbors.”
Ms. Velasquez stressed to the City Paper that the United Way of Midland County was “built for this crisis.”
“They were already providing hope to so many through volunteerism and financial support for nonprofits and essential workers during the Covid-19 crisis,” she said. “They sprang into action immediately to help our community respond to the historic flood.”
An online volunteer portal, reliefmidland.org, has been created for volunteers to sign up and for those who need help to be able to get it. Damage assessment, furniture removal and food delivery are among the opportunities that have been filled.
“Just on our online volunteer portal alone, we’ve had over 2,500 people sign up to receive volunteer opportunity alerts,” Ms. Henry told the City Paper. “Over 700 people have filled volunteer slots across the county so far. We are so grateful for the overwhelming generosity of people, corporations and organizations—both in our own backyard and across the nation.”
The United Way also has a supplies donation process. Distribution sites will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. where people can drop off and pick up donations. Such supplies that are needed include PPEs, food, water, cleaning supplies and other household goods. According to reliefmidland.org, these are the distribution centers:
- West Midland Family Center, 4011 W. Isabella Road
- Coleman High School, 4951 N. Lewis Road
- Sanford Senior Center, 3243 N. West River Road
- Meridian Elementary School, 3343 N. Meridian Road
- North Family Center, 2601 E. Shearer Road
- Gladwin downtown – parking lot behind
- Forge Fitness, 237 W. Cedar, Gladwin; corner of Arcade & Grout
- Midland High School, 1301 Eastlawn Drive
Clothing donations are not being accepted in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“So many of us have lost in this flood,” Ms. Henry told the City Paper. “People are ripping up basements, repairing stairs, throwing their items away and putting furniture on the curb. The entire county has been affected.”
The portal also contains access to the Flood Damage Self-Assessment Form from the Midland County Emergency Operations Center, which citizens are encouraged to fill out if they’re facing flood damage. The data is used to deploy disaster relief teams for cleanup.
“It will also serve as our database for long-term recovery, tracking for FEMA and access potential funding for rebuilding,” Ms. Henry told the City Paper.
Rushing water from the flood has mostly spared Dow Inc. of any serious harm to its Michigan Operations site, and the company — along with regulators and environmental organizations — continues to monitor the affect of the flood on the Superfund toxic-cleanup site downriver.
At the height of the flood event, water had reached retaining ponds at Dow, flowing into at least one. Dow spokesman Kyle Bandlow said that the on-site brine ponds are used for storm water and brine system and groundwater remediation.
“The material from the brine pond (essentially salt water) did not create any risk to residents or the environment,” Mr. Bandlow told the City Paper.
Dow initiated a detailed flood preparedness plan after the Edenville Dam in Gladwin County failed, sending rushing water toward Sanford and Midland. Mr. Bandlow told The New York Times that only essential Dow staff were on site to monitor the situation at the time.
Mr. Bandlow told the City Paper that the company’s flood preparedness plan is comprehensive, spanning efforts including the safe shutdown of operations, activities to help prevent and mitigate flood damage, notifications to local authorities and regulators regarding the status of plant operations and activities.
As a part of that plan, Dow filed an ‘Unusual Event’ notice with the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission because the company has a small nuclear research reactor on site. The reactor, however, was already shut down to to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The next day, Dow terminated the notification of the Unusual Event, due to flood water receding.
“The flood water receded faster than was expected,” the termination filing said.
One of the primary concerns about the flood water rising near Dow was how it might affect the Superfund toxic-cleanup site downriver, a federally-funded site started in 2007 that was scheduled to end next year.
“You worry about the speed of the current, this wall of water coming down the river. It just has a huge amount of power,” Allen Burton, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan, told The New York Times.
Mr. Bandlow told the City Paper that Dow will perform post-flood sampling in several downriver parks along the Tittabawassee.
“We will perform an inspection of each bank area that has received a remediation remedy to confirm the banks remain stable. The bank inspections are expected to be completed next week. Findings of all samplings and inspections will be reported to the EPA,” Mr. Bandlow told the City Paper.
The Lone Tree Council, a local environmental organization, chartered a plane to view flood damage from the air. Terry Miller, the group’s president, says that things looked positive.
“They seem to be forthcoming,” Mr. Miller told the City Paper about Dow’s response to the flood. “At least from the air, [what Dow said] seemed to be accurate.”
Mr. Miller says that his organization has an adversarial relationship with Dow, but that they have worked together in the past.
“They have been very cooperative in the last 13 years or so, as they cleaned up the Tittabawassee River and acknowledged that contamination and have either removed it or stabilized the banks and sediment,” Mr. Miller told the City Paper.
“Our concern at this point, because of the flood, is whether their repair job holds. They did put in clean materials and they did plant native plants to keep those in place, but this is a 500-year flood and whether it scoured the repair job or not will remain to be seen.”
The status of the Superfund site remains unknown, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be involved in the area’s assessment.
“We’ve been told by the EPA team that that is going to be forthcoming,” Mr. Miller told the City Paper.
The Edenville Dam was the second in a series of four dams built along the Tittabawassee and the only one that was located on the county line between Midland and Gladwin. Secord and Smallwood dams are north of Edenville. All four dams were completed in 1924, for the purpose of water power development to generate electricity.
The Edenville dam was built at the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Tobacco rivers, which forms what used to be Wixom Lake. It is 54 feet tall and 6,200 feet long and is considered as an earthen embankment dam, which is made by compacting layers of material. The dams also have a foundation wall that is embedded into the rock below the dam to prevent water from flowing beneath it, while above that, the remaining structure is built from materials from the earth.
Each of the four dams contain a controlled spillway structure, an emergency earthen spillway, and the main earthen dam. The Edenville and Sanford dams also contain a power generation structure. Embankment dams are vulnerable to overflow of water eroding the dam structure, so each one must be provided with a spillway that can release water from the reservoir behind it if the water becomes too high. Each section of the Edenville dam consists of a concrete spillway and earthen embankments that extend from either side of the spillway to the ground.
For many years, all four dams were owned and operated by Wolverine Power Corporation, but in 2003, the company found itself in chapter 11 bankruptcy. At that time, Wolverine had pledged all of its property, interest, assets, and its contracts with Consumers Energy as collateral to Vancouver, British Columbian engineering and consulting company, Synex Energy Resources.
Wolverine Power Corp. defaulted on the loan and Synex foreclosed on all four dams, and other properties, later that year. Wolverine Power was sold to a Synex subsidiary called Synex Michigan LLC.
Boyce Hydro Power LLC purchased the interests of Synex Michigan and was renamed Boyce Hydro Power on July 12, 2007. Boyce Hydro has owned and operated all four dams along the Tittabawassee River since and the company has had its fair share of issues. In reports from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE, pronounced “eagle”), the company received several violations starting in September 2010, that continued up until recent times.
Boyce Hydro’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license was terminated for the Edenville dam due to “longstanding failure to increase the project’s spillways capacity to safely pass probable maximum flood flows, as well as failure to comply with its license,” according to the Midland County Hazard Mitigation Plan, which FERC approved in January 2019. The plan is updated every five years and also states that the Edenville dam would be under the oversight of the State of Michigan.
As of 2020, three of the four dams-Secord, Smallwood, and Sanford-generates electricity and are regulated by the FERC, but the Edenville dam has not produced hydroelectricity since the licensing was revoked.
As a retired dam operator of the six-hydroelectric dams owned by Consumers, along the AuSable River, Greg Purtell, from Hale, explained that dams that are not in production-which are known as “off-line”-do not need much management. He said that water levels in the lake or reservoir are mostly lowered upon production cessation. They are usually only lowered again after significant rainfall.
Mr. Purtell also told the City Paper that dams are set up and measured using trigonometry, in which water is measured by cubic feet per second in order to know how many megawatts of electricity will be produced.
“The higher the water, the more energy is created,” he said. “A dam that is not in production really does not have a need for high water levels.”
The Association of State Dam Officials claim that the ability to perform reservoir drawdowns quickly and safely can be crucial to the protection and preservation of a dam.
Mr.Purtell went on to explain the drawdown process of dams, “The drawdown usually happens at the beginning of the Fall and levels are typically replenished in the Spring, but the exact time varies because it is calculated based on the weather pattern that season. Everything gets recorded and calculated by engineers to determine how much a dam can handle, including erosion, saturation levels and weather patterns.”
Mr. Purtell said that FERC issues a license and determines the drawdown level, with input from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), but that the overall responsibility to do the drawdown is up to the owner and operators, following the guidelines designated for them.
In April 2014, a former Sanford Lake resident, Amanda Leaman-Ranes, had complained about the water levels in a review of Boyce Hydro on its Facebook page stating that, “They [the company] should drain the dams more to prevent flooding out the residents, or build a wall to protect homeowners from the flood plain.”
Ms. Leaman-Ranes told the City Paper that the flooding she experienced at her old residence, on West Railroad Street in Sanford, was due to overflow from the river that passes through that neighborhood, extending from the lake. It was the first time she had ever had to deal with such an upsetting ordeal and tragic loss of her and her family’s possessions.
“My neighbors and I agreed that they [Boyce Hydro] did not do a good job at preventing loss that year. I am certain that the flooding was due to the dam not lowering the water levels for anticipation of spring. We were very upset, and it added stress because my husband and I were planning our wedding at the time. We had to do our dishes in the bathtub. There is no way we should have flooded,” she said.
Ms. Leaman-Ranes said her home flooded again in 2017, and at that time, the lake was lowered.
“We sold that house about a year and a half ago, and now it is completely gone. I feel awful for what the new owner has to go through. None of us could even fathom that anything like this was ever possible,” she said regarding the house on Railroad St. being demolished in the recent flood.
Tim Holsworth, Vice President of the Sanford Lake Association (SLA), told the City Paper that the SLA was created to be a liaison for property owners on Sanford Lake. He has been with the organization for four years and has served as Vice President since Jan. The SLA was founded in 1998.
“We advocate on their [the property owners] behalf,” he said. “We communicate things like weed control, lake drawdowns, legislative changes, and other items of interest, like meetings and other news.”
Mr. Purtell explained the purpose of winter drawdowns. The winter drawdown is for flood control, as minor flooding is nothing unusual, he said. Springtime means melting snow and rising water levels. Once that occurs, which is determined by water temperature on the lake, the levels are allowed back to “normal.” The set temperature technically determines the “when.”
“Normal level” means the level or levels of water in an inland lake that provide the most benefit to the public; that best protect public health, safety, and welfare; that best preserve the natural resources of the state; and that best preserve and protect the value of property around the lake. A normal level shall be measured and described as an elevation based on national geodetic vertical datum.
“Most are done to prevent flooding because of the unpredictability of precipitation and weather. If you left the lake at its normal level and it snowed 4 inches, then the water levels would be too high when the snow melts. Some drawdowns are also done in the winter for maintenance purposes, especially if the lake or pond is a recreational area with a lot of public usage,” he said.
In reports released by EGLE, in October of 2018, the Department of Environmental Quality safety staff met with Edenville dam owner, Lee Mueller, to perform a cursory inspection of the dam to identify critical deficiencies of the structure. They observed that water levels were a little over 4 feet below normal lake level, 13 months after the flood in 2017.
According to the Midland County Hazard Mitigation Plan from November 2018, the most vulnerable jurisdictions for dam failure are as follows, ranking highest to lowest: Edenville Township, Jerome Township, Village of Sanford, Lincoln Township, Homer Township, City of Midland, Midland Township, and Ingersoll Township.
In the same report, Edenville, Lincoln and Jerome Townships ranked dam failure as their number one concern for those areas in Midland County, with the Village of Sanford ranking it as number four and Warren Township ranking it as number five. Five out of the nineteen Townships in the county had legitimate concerns regarding dam failure. The inadequacies and lack of maintenance had been documented.
Mr. Holsworth said that the SLA does get fairly regular updates and status reports about the dams and lakes, as their board has two members that also serve on the Four Lakes Task Force(FLTF) board, but they do not work with either Boyce Hydro or the FLTF, other than to respond to requests or pass along their reports to members.
Midland’s Hazard Mitigation Plan also defines dam failure as the collapse or failure of an impoundment resulting in downstream flooding. Failure of a dam does not only occur during flood events, which may cause overtopping of a dam but can also result from poor operation, lack of maintenance and repair, and vandalism.
Given the Edenville dam’s age, inspections revealed that the dam did not meet state standards for its capacity to accommodate major flooding. FERC contacted Boyce Hydro regarding the issue, notifying them that it needed increased capacity in its spillways. These repairs could amount to several million dollars. Boyce claimed they lacked appropriate funds for the repairs.
Reports also state that the State later denied the company’s request to lower the levels of the lake in the Fall of 2019, even with the knowledge that the structure failed capacity standards, both by the EGLE and FERC. State and county officials have expressed frustration that current laws prevented them from actually doing more to regulate the dams because of their private ownership.
Throughout those two years, FLTF had plans to do repairs and maintenance on the dams, using money they would receive from water-front homeowners who pay $350 in additional property taxes, known as the Special Assessment District (SAD). Most of the homeowners with private access and exclusivity made up SAD.
FLTF stated, “Properties within the SAD share financial responsibility to acquire, repair, improve, operate and maintain the dams to be compliant with the State of Michigan dam safety standards.
In April, FLTF had drafted up a Secord Dam Preliminary design and Engineering Report and sent it in to the FERC for approval to build a new auxiliary spillway. The spillway was being considered to be put on the Eastern side of the dam. They claimed it would activate after the existing flood gates are open and water flow exceeds capacity of current flood gate capacity. It is unknown if they had plans to do repairs on Edenville dam.
Over the course of three days, what was predicted to be several inches of precipitation, had turned into 5 to 7 inches of accumulation, which caused Edenville dam so much distress that it eventually breached.
When asked about his perspective regarding the breach, with his experience, Mr.Purtell told the City Paper, “There was probably nothing wrong with the dam structure itself, it was probably the dike. Dikes only have water on one side because it physically blocks the water and creates the reservoir. Dams have water on both sides. Dikes are used to prevent flooding so if the dike breaks, or is damaged, it will cause flooding.”
He also said that there is more reason for concern when there is more saturation in the land surrounding the dam and the higher the water level is because it adds increased resistance, which makes it harder for the dam to push the water through. He said this especially happens when there is heavy rainfall, which the area did have prior to the breach.
Similar to Mr. Purtell’s statements about what may have happened at Edenville, reports say that the eastern earthen dike was saturated by the record levels of rainfall over a two-day period, which resulted in washing away over 900 feet of the dike. The emergency spillways were unable to sustain and keep up with the continuous and cumulative water flow from the precipitation flowing into and filling the Tittabawassee River.
If water overwhelms a dam and overflows to the top, it has the potential to create massive erosion on the structure, causing it to fail. There is an emergency spillway, some call it a fuse plug, which is lower than the dam’s regular spillway structure and designed to fall, preventing water from making it to the top to overflow. It is very small however, and used to regulate the flow of the water, but is not capable of maintaining or regulating flood levels after a certain point. Especially once the water reaches over the top of the structure.
Richard McGibbon, Vice President of the Wixom Lake Association, told the City Paper, that the four lakes were not “flood-controlled lakes.”
“When the Edenville dam lost its ability to pass the water through the turbines, it could only release water through the spillways, which slows the ability to draw down water accumulation. Because of the historic level of water, the dams could not keep up,” he said.
“The consequence of living in a river valley is that we must deal with river floods at times, this however would be unprecedented. Whereas the flood from 1986 was considered a 100-year flood, what we are looking at is an event that is equivalent to a 500-year flood, which is extremely rare, extremely catastrophic and extremely dangerous,” said Midland City Manager, Brad Kaye, during a press conference the night of the dam failures.
Mr. Kaye later walked back the ‘500-year flood’ comments which gained media traction across the state.
“The language is important here, and in honesty, we’ve been probably, including myself, a little loose with that,” he told the City Paper at another press conference.
“We in Midland have been using the term ‘500 year’ because what we said is that the water that came through the river corridor was the equivalent of a 500 year rainfall event, but it was not a 500 year rainfall event,” Mr. Kaye said. “It was the combination of the two, the water in the dams, behind the dams, the impoundments, combined with the water that fell over the entire watershed and then challenged through that area. So it will not come out that this was a 500 year rain event.”
Mr. Purtell said that these things are set in motion, long before they happen. He compared operating a dam to playing golf.
“You can keep trying to understand it and play, but you’ll never win,” he told the City Paper.
“You have to keep in mind that when you are looking at dam integrity and safety, you have to look at it like the domino effect,” he said. “When you have high water levels and are just skimming by, you have to calculate the distance between power plants. How far apart they are, if the reservoir is more of a lake or a pond, and how fast the water is flowing, are all factors to be considered.”
“Anytime you fail to adjust the water levels for an oncoming rain of several inches, you are just asking for trouble,” Mr. Holsworth told the City Paper.
Director of Environmental Policy at the Mackinac Center, Jason Hayes studies environmental and energy policy. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Northwood University, teaching Environmental Science, and as a policy advisor to the Heartland Institute on issues of energy and environmental policy.
“It is really unfortunate that this was in the midst of fixing the problem. 2020 seems to be that year where it all hits. If it had been three years later, some of this might have been averted,” Mr. Hayes told the City Paper.
EGLE and Boyce were equally responsible for the controversial back and forth, Mr. Hayes says, which was then brought to a head by the excessive rainfall.
“When EGLE first did an inspection of the Edenville dam, “ he told the City Paper, “this one page inspection report (which included pictures)-literally three paragraphs-says that the ‘cursory inspection’ showed the dam to be in ‘fair condition’ and used terms like efflorescence, cracking, spalling, and [iron] rebar showing.”
“Now they say they had “strong concerns” all along,” he added.
Mr. Purtell said that situations like this happen when structures such as dams are owned privately.
“If it is a federally owned dam, then you have a federal agency working together with another federal agency to operate and maintain, but when it’s a private owner working with a federal agency, that can be a bit more difficult,” he told the City Paper.
“When the FERC wanted something done,” Mr. Purcell told the City Paper, “they wanted it done their way and on their time. And if you do what they say, then you don’t have problems. The FERC does monthly dike inspections and annual inspections with the owner of the dam. They always made it clear that it’s safety first and production second.”
While the focus on the human impact has rightfully dominated flood discussions, the impact on the area’s flora and fauna looms large as well. Mr. Hayes lists some of the affected species.
The flood has drastically diminished any number of plants and creatures in and around the two former lakes. Fish are the obvious fatalities, with thousands of dead fish ending up on people’s properties and washing downstream.
Mr. Hayes says we should consider the impact on all kinds of other plants, animals, and environments that now have a limited habitat or no home at all. That would include: wetland areas, varieties of water fowl, red-wing blackbirds, cattails, sedges, fish such as panfish, small-mouth bass, walleye, and catfish, and even the insects. These creatures and plants have all developed and thrived over the decades of having the lakes as a resource.
Since the 1800s, wildlife and natural areas have been managed for human use (especially recreational), but in recent times much of the management has focused on nature for the sake of nature, according to Mr. Hayes. Human use takes a backseat.
That particularly applies to animals or plants designated as endangered. In the Endangered Species Act of 1973, “endangered means a species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”
The federal law would not normally apply to the lake areas because they are privately owned and not federal land. However the Michigan Endangered Species Law of 1994 extended rulings to private and public lands. This then involves extensive control by Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE, pronounced “eagle”).
The snuffbox mussel has been on the federal endangered list since 2012. Michigan automatically accepts federal designations. The snuffbox and more than a dozen other freshwater mussels have been known to be in the lake behind Edenville for some years. Mussels are two-shelled mollusks like clams.
After Boyce lowered the water level at Edenville in late 2019, EGLE and DNR wanted Boyce to raise the water back up for environmental reasons. In a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dana Nessel on April 30, the state formalized that demand into a formal complaint.
The complaint justified raising the lake levels primarily based on the threat to the snuffbox mussel and its fellow mussels. Simply stated, mussels need water over them to survive. Lower water would clearly kill some of the mussels. The state’s lawsuit claimed that “thousands, if not millions” of mussels would die.
This compares with hundreds of thousands to millions of another mussels species dying in Appalachia. A government biologist estimated that number may have died from unknown causes in a 300-mile stretch of river over a recent three-year period, according to the Associated Press.
Because of the “low water kills mussels” connection, the state had threatened Boyce, before the formal complaint, with a $200 million fine. That is according to Boyce. But the company claims that the lower water enabled them to protect their employees’ safety in removing winter ice and the harmful effects of expanding ice to the structure. Boyce also claims the reduced water status would help keep spring rains from pushing the level too high.
According to the Four Lakes Task Force, the group had spent $300,000 on related repairs in conjunction with Boyce earlier in 2020. However Boyce has a decade-long history of making promises of safety and other repairs, asking for delays, and ultimately falling through on their commitments. Most of those occurred under the watch of FERC. EGLE cites infractions under the shorter term of their oversight.
The attorney general’s lawsuit raises questions about the emphasis on the snuffbox mussel—especially in the retrospective light of the flooding to come. The lawsuit extols the benefits of the endangered mollusk and kindred species in over a dozen ways.
Those attributes include the “provision of multiple ecosystem services;” as a food source for raccoons and lake sturgeon; providing habitat for crayfish, bugs, flies, and spiders; contributing to biological diversity; “a source of intellectual and scientific knowledge;” possible impact on “processes that moderate climate;” and even the freshwater mussels being “the most imperiled of any major group of animals.”
The lawsuit bemoans what the loss of the mussels could entail. For instance, harm to “agricultural, medicinal, and industrial development” and less control of “pests and diseases” might be around the corner.
Nothing in the attorney general’s complaint mentions the possible negative impact of flooding by raising the lake level. Mr. Hayes finds a sad irony that without the lakes, most of the mussels have died. He says the region now has an “ecosystem drastically altered or destroyed. We used to choose the humans, now we choose the animals.”
Ms. Nessel strongly disputes this narrative.
“The breach of the Edenville Dam is solely attributable to Boyce’s negligence. It is not the result of any action, or inaction, of the State of Michigan,” she said in a press conference announcing a new lawsuit against Boyce filed on June 9 in Ingham County Circuit Court, blaming the flood on the Edenville Dam’s owner.
“The state’s lawsuit was about Boyce’s dropping water levels in the winter, in 2018, and also 2019, causing harm to Wixom and Sanford Lakes because it did not want to pay for winter maintenance on the dam. The only thing the two issues have in common is that Boyce, yet again, is prioritizing its own profits over the safety of nearby property owners,” Ms. Nessel said.
Ms. Nessel pushes back on the notion that the mussel lawsuit had anything to do with the dam failures and flood.
“Boyce never indicated it could not safely maintain those lake levels in the spring and always planned to do just exactly what it did: which was raise the lake to those levels, in the spring of 2020, and thus, by orders of those courts, Boyce was required to maintain a certain lake level. The State did not try, or try to compel Boyce to do anything otherwise.”
“The suggestion that I care more about mussels than I do about people is absolutely false, and in my opinion, defamatory,” Ms. Nessel said. “This false dichotomy was created simply so that my political opponents could coin what I believe is a very inane catch phrase apparently because ‘Dangerous Dana’ just wasn’t working for them anymore.”
With the enormous personal toll for thousands, the losses in the millions, the untold stress to families, looming insurance shortfalls, and the environmental wasteland, mid-Michigan and even the U.S. House of Representatives want to know what exactly happened. First into the fray was the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, “furk”). The agency oversaw the Edenville Dam until 2018 when Boyce’s repeated violations prompted a license revocation.
FERC had asked the previous owner, Wolverine Energy, to increase the spillway capacity to keep the dam from failure in a worst case scenario. This key complaint was passed on to Boyce as soon as the company gained ownership in 2004. In their final order, FERC listed 14 incidents of delay on the spillway from then into 2017.
Other offenses cited by FERC were unauthorized dam repairs and earth-moving activities as well as failure to provide an “adequate” Public Safety Plan. Three other regulatory breaches entailed “unduly restricting public access to project facilities,” not constructing and maintaining recreation facilities, and not properly monitoring water quality.
Immediately following the tragedy, FERC asked Boyce to complete an independent study employing experts in hydraulics and hydrology; geotechnical engineering; structural engineering; reservoir operations; emergency action planning; and organizational/human factors. At this early stage, there is no word on whether this will ensue.
One week after the flood, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a press conference held at Meridian Elementary School that she had sent a letter to EGLE directing the agency to investigate the dam failures.
Ms. Whitmer cast aside suggestions to establish an independent investigation, since EGLE is a defendant in one of the class-action lawsuits filed because of the flood event.
“What we wanted to do was follow the procedure that would ordinarily be followed,” she said. “We have to go to the agency that has the expertise.”
Ms. Whitmer said that there are “very few” who are able to conduct this type of investigation.
“I’m confident that EGLE will do the kind of investigation that we all deserve and that we all expect, and I will ensure that that happens,” she said.
Ms. Whitmer steadfastly refuted allegations that the state is responsible for the dam failures due to raised water levels to protect freshwater mussels.
“So I think first and foremost, it’s important that we have this investigation done, that’s precisely why I’ve told people to get it started,” she said, “There are a lot of information out there that is not exactly accurate. One of which is the assumption that it was the State that said to raise the levels.”
Ms. Whitmer said that the raised lake levels was due to a Court order, echoing a statement earlier released by Attorney General Dana Nessel.
“Now of course, they have all sorts of ecological concerns, but it also was because of a Court order, is my understanding. And that’s precisely why it’s important that we get the facts, and we share the results of the investigations so that we can understand all of the different actions that—non-actions that contributed to the failing of these two dams.”
Critics of an EGLE investigation include leaders in the Michigan Republican Party. State Rep. Annette Glenn called on Ms. Whitmer to “reverse course and secure an independent investigation.”
Likewise, State Sen. Jim Stamas believes EGLE’s role in the dam failures precludes their performing the investigation. Beside accusations of vested interest, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials has a long list of requirements for an investigation. EGLE, with only two dam inspection experts and a lone supervisor, might find their expertise outmanned.
The Association’s “Dam Failure Investigation Guide” calls on assigned investigators to cover ten areas that involve causes, organizational and cultural factors, what went right, communicate with the public and the press, put forward design and construction practices, improve understanding of warning signs, reform dam safety regulation, and prevent future failures.
Mr. Hayes says he talked to several officials with EGLE, and they were adamant in stating that Boyce Hydro was absolutely at fault. He concludes, “It is reasonable that somebody else (besides EGLE) should do that investigation. There should be a third party.”
Ms. Whitmer seemed to cast blame of the dam failures on Boyce Hydro as well as Michigan’s former political leaders, during her first press conference at Meridian Elementary School.
“There are a lot of problems with the owner of this particular dam,” Ms. Whitmer said, “There are a lot of different pressures that comes from everything from the under investment in infrastructure in the State of Michigan for decades.”
Michigan Capitol Confidential reported that Ms. Whitmer previously proposed budget cuts on dam repairs.
Her first budget proposal in 2019 called for cutting the $350,000 allocated toward dam repairs down to $200,000. However, the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature rejected her proposal in the final legislation.
Michael Pitt, a Michigan attorney previously involved in the Flint water crisis, also argued in a Bridge Magazine op-ed that EGLE cannot be trusted to conduct an investigation. He says the agency failed in the Flint water crisis and now failed to take proper steps to prepare the dams for high water events when they had control since the beginning of 2018.
Mr. Pitt also favors appointing an independent task force to conduct an impartial investigation. Like FERC, he wants to see a full array of broad-based expertise that employs technical and human resources experts.
“The innocent people impacted by this tragedy deserve nothing less than a fair, impartial and credible evaluation of what went wrong and who should be held accountable,” Mr. Pitt wrote.
On June 1, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent separate letters to the FERC and EGLE.
FERC regulated Edenville until the beginning of 2018 when the agency pulled the facility’s license. The other three Boyce hydro dams are still regulated by the agency: Secord, Smallwood, and Sanford. EGLE became the new regulators for Edenville only when FERC stripped the dam of federal licensing.
- What compliance and safety issues do the other three dams have?
- How could Edenville operate without compliance for over 10 years before the revocation?
- Upon revocation, did FERC work with Michigan to explain the Commission’s safety concerns?
- Nationally, what does FERC recommend for safety when dams lose their Federal licenses and are then under jurisdiction of a state?
- Likewise, the letter to Michigan’s EGLE wants responses about “the state’s actions and authorities to ensure dam safety:”
- What happened between January 2018 when Michigan found the dam in “fair” condition and five months ago when a state engineer found the dam short of safety standards?
- What communications the state had with FERC about Edenville’s noncompliance and safety shortfalls?
- What legal and regulatory actions the state took following the 2018 revocation?
- Explain the May 2020 state lawsuit (see section above) alleging environmental violations, public nuisance and unlawfully using Edenville outside the public interest—in Boyce’s lowering water levels in Lake Wixom (behind Edenville Dam).
While not a request for a formal study, the letters ask for important answers relevant to responsibility and causation. Both Democrats and Republicans on the Committee support the inquiry. The letters close with a short deadline, “Please provide a response to the above questions by Monday, June 15, 2020.”
While the House inquiry has a fixed time limit, no one yet knows how long studies may take. The public normally grants enough time for a study to be done properly but likely has little patience for drawn-out reports. Other timelines are more easily estimated.
However, given the checkered history and ultimate downfall of the Edenville and Sanford dams, citizens might expect that the future of the dams and the lakes would be virtually unknown. However uncertain the next months and years may be, there are routine steps that must take place.
Jason Edberg works as a senior vice president of NTH Consultants, a civil engineering firm based in Detroit. Civil engineering deals with all the big structural projects. He describes four steps in the process.
The first step is a stabilization phase. This step is necessary “so that the extent of the damage doesn’t spread,” Mr. Edberg says.
All areas that have been affected along the waterway need expert inspections; state and local officials need to order temporary fixes to limit further impact. This step takes six months to a year.
At the same time, those who have seawalls and reinforced embankments need to understand that those structures are no longer in balance without the water present. People tend to think of water as unsupportive by nature because it is liquid. However, just as water buoys up boats, it also provides a counter force to seawalls which steadies and helps support them. Mr. Edberg says there are four signs to look for:
- The wall starts to lean from the top.
- Cracks in the earth behind the seawall appear.
- Small sinkholes arise.
- The ground starts to settle behind the seawall.
If these signs appear, what should owners or property managers do? Edberg says the engineering thing to do is simple: pile up stone or dirt in front of the seawall. However, he suggests that there may be limits from homeowners’ associations or local and state laws on what can be done. Mr. Edberg hopes the tragic circumstances will inspire officials to be lenient toward owners protecting their lakeside structures. Owners also may wish to consult their insurance companies to see if these protective actions are covered.
The second step is a determination of restoration. Simultaneously with stabilization, somebody has to decide what to do and exactly what process is required to do that. This phase takes place simultaneously with phase one, requiring that first six months to a year.
This decision is not written in stone. In other words, the dams could be restored to some level of function—or alternately removed and abandoned. Edberg says private dams like these are more easily cancelled as the costs to the owners may be considered prohibitive.
If, as appears likely, the dams are rebuilt, then what’s called a legal lake level must be the standard. That is, state regulators will require a level to be set for the renewed lakes. Because of the landscape and pre-existing terrain and lake beds, there will likely not be much variability from previous lake levels. Recent court-mandated levels may well stand as is.
This leads to the third step: securing funding. The funds to complete whatever rebuilding or alterations are chosen can come from a variety of sources. Typically those include national sources such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the state of Michigan, charitable foundations, businesses, tax assessments, private individuals, and others who may step forward.
The Four Lakes Task Force that was in the process of purchasing the dams still wishes to make a deal, but the organization has abandoned the inclusion of a $300+ long-term yearly assessment for property owners on the lakes.
Obtaining funding is understandably the most common bottleneck in the four-step process. This phase generally takes up to a year to complete.
Mr. Bone, the Midland County Board of Commissioners Chairman, has said that the cost to rebuild the Edenville and Sanford dams and restore the lakes will be “at a minimum” $200 million.
“It’s going to be a very, very tough task. We’re all up to it. We’re gonna get it done,” Mr. Bone said. “Our plan is to rebuild. Our plan is to rebuild.”
Accuracy in estimating the actual costs, according to guidelines from the United States Society on Dams is crucial for funding, “History has proven that a greater probability exists that costs will increase rather than decrease. Risk analysis can provide management with an understanding of the probability of over-running (or under-running) a cost estimate.”
Funding acquisition also requires a clear, focused determination of restoration so that investors are confident they are getting optimum value for their money.
Mr. Bone has said that options officials are pursuing are “federal money, state money and private money.”
The fourth and final step is the design and build phase. Provided that funding is secured and sufficient, new dams can be designed and built. There are design engineering companies, construction companies, and companies that do both. Of the top 500 engineering-architecture-construction design firms in the U.S., there are eight Michigan companies primarily focused on engineering. Those figures come from Engineering News-Record’s 2019 list.
Sufficient funding helps speed up the process when there is a widespread public sense of urgency for the project. The wide time range for this step extends upward from two to four years.
The first two steps can take place at the same time. That means six to twelve months. The third step takes up to a year. As a money issue and considering the contentiousness of the stakeholders in the past, estimating around a year for step three may be realistic.
Michigan, with its industrial and engineering expertise, could mean the design-and-build phase would be nearer to two years than four years. Barring some unforeseen factor, the public is looking at a minimum of three years and possibly as long as six years or more to see a resolution of the waterway infrastructure.
The wild card in the timeline is the growing number of lawsuits. Mr. Hayes warns of a potential “hard slog” coming, “That’s what I’m expecting. If they have a judgment against Boyce and the State, then there will be a slowdown.”
Mr. Edberg says the sad reality is this tragedy may help.
“The silver lining in a situation like this is that it calls attention to the need for more infrastructure investment,” he told the City Paper.
In January, the Four Lakes Task Force (FLTF) signed a $9.4 million purchase agreement for the acquisition of Sanford, Smallwood, Wixom and Secord Lakes from the owners, Boyce Trusts. The sale was expected to take place over the next two years, with a final closing on all properties in January of 2022.
FLTF issued a statement on May 26 in response to the recent dam failures. The task force announced that the purchase from Boyce Hydro would not take place—at least as previously agreed.
“Recent events related to the Edenville Dam failure were terrible and tragic for our community,” FLTF stated. “All of us on the Four Lakes Task Force are devastated by our individual and collective losses, and our hearts go out to everyone who is impacted.”
The group had indicated that with their purchase of both dams and lakes, they would facilitate improvements and major repairs to each of the lakes’ nearly century-old dams. That was planned to take place over the next three years, a timeline that will likely have to be recalculated upwards.
Now, the Four Lakes Task Force plans to acquire the dams — with the help of the Counties — through a condemnation process.
Ron Hansen, engineer who also serves as the vice president of water-resources for the Spicer Group land surveyor, had said that the project’s “engineering and evaluation phase” would likely last until June of 2020. Some engineers suggest that is overly optimistic.
FLTF says they are “reassessing the path forward to acquire the Boyce property and rebuild our dams and lakes.” They are working with the counties, authorities and lake communities on determining the best course of action in working toward recovery.
The organization also wishes to seek other sources of funding, both public and private. The original plan was to assess property owners an annual fee. With so many property owners devastated, that idea is no longer viable.
“Four Lakes Task Force, as the delegated authority of the counties, is dedicated to returning these lakes to a recreational and natural resource gem of the region,” said Dave Kepler, president of the Four Lakes Task Force. “We will do this with a continued focus on public safety.”
According to Mr. Holsworth, the Sanford Lake Association Vice President, they have other hopes for the future of the dams and lakes.
“Our hope, which should be incredibly obvious, is for the dams to be rebuilt and the lakes to be restored. You have thousands of people affected here, and millions of property tax dollars in question,” he told the City Paper.
“The FLTF does not own them yet,” Mr. Holsworth added. “If they do purchase them, it will be to ensure the dams are viable for the future which has been their goal all along. The FLTF was created for the sole reason to purchase the dams, and bring them up to code for the residents of all the lakes. Unfortunately, they were not fast enough to avoid the devastation created when the dams failed. A failure, that was the result of several parties completely screwing up over the years. This was a manmade disaster, and the FLTF was at no fault here.”
While the Edenville dam breach did not result in any loss of life, apart from aquatic life, it did destroy the livelihoods of homeowners throughout the affected area. As people scurried to salvage what they could from their homes and hauled precious memories to the curbside for pick-up, many community members are wondering what the future will hold for the four lakes and dams that the task force was in the process of purchasing.
“Four Lakes Task Force, as the delegated authority of the counties, is dedicated to returning these lakes to a recreational and natural resource gem of the region,” Mr. Kepler said. “We will do this with a continued focus on public safety.”
Mr. Kepler told the City Paper that the failed dams were not made for flood control, they were made for hydroelectricity.
“These dams were not made for flood control, they were made for hydroelectric power, and one of the things we’re looking at is maybe a logical investment … made for flood control and not for hydro,” Mr. Kepler told the City Paper.