Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy issued the following announcement on June 18.
Independent experts in geotechnical engineering, hydraulics, dam safety and dam design will form the independent forensic team to investigate the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams in May in mid-Michigan.
The team, approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and agreed to by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), had their first meeting virtually on Wednesday, June 17.
The team will begin its dam investigation after entering into a contract with Boyce Hydro LLC. Boyce owns the two dams and will pay all investigation costs. As the members perform their investigation, they may provide interim findings if that might prevent failures at dams of similar design.
“With the knowledge and experience these professionals bring to the independent investigation I am confident that we will get a clear picture of what went wrong with the two dams and why,” said Liesl Clark, EGLE’s director. “Transparency is extremely important as this process moves forward and EGLE is ready to provide any information necessary to help get answers to this tragedy.”
The team members (full biographies provided at end of release) are:
- John W. France, President, JWF Consulting, who will serve as team leader.
- Irfan A. Alvi, President and Chief Engineer, Alvi Associates.
- Henry T. Falvey, President, Henry T. Falvey & Associates.
- Steve Higinbotham, Hydraulic structures engineer consultant.
- Arthur C. Miller, Technical Advisor, AECOM.
- Jennifer Williams, Geotechnical engineer and consultant.
The six team members have extensive experience probing dam failures. Several participated in the investigation of the 2017 failure of the Oroville Dam in California – the tallest earthen dam in the United States.
Clark noted that with the naming of the team, neither EGLE, FERC nor Boyce will influence the outcome of the investigation. EGLE has committed to ensuring the independence of the investigators and will provide all information and data requested by the team to support the investigation.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for the investigation after the two dams failed. The flooding in the Midland area forced more than 10,000 people to be evacuated. Gov. Whitmer on Monday requested a major disaster declaration for mid-Michigan counties affected by the flooding.
Updates on the investigation will be posted to EGLE’s Edenville Dam Failure webpage, which includes an interactive map of the more than 1,050 state-regulated dams in Michigan.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy
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