Judge enters $120M order against former owner of failed Michigan dam
A judge has signed a $120 million order against the former owner of a Michigan dam that failed after days of rain in 2020
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
The former owner of a Michigan dam is on the hook for roughly $120 million sought by the state for environmental damage when the structure failed after days of rain in 2020, a judge said.
But it's not known how the state will ever collect: Lee Mueller has filed for bankruptcy protection in Nevada.
“There isn't that kind of money anywhere,” Mueller's attorney, Troy Fox, said Tuesday.
After three days of rain, the Edenville Dam collapsed in May 2020, releasing a torrent that overtopped the downstream Sanford Dam and flooded the city of Midland, located about 128 miles (206.00 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Thousands of people were temporarily evacuated and 150 homes were destroyed.
Wixom Lake, a reservoir behind the Edenville Dam, disappeared.
U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney on Monday granted the state's request for a $120 million judgment against Mueller, who didn't contest it. The state said much of that amount is related to damage to fisheries and the ecosystem for mussels.
The state insists that the Edenville Dam collapsed as a result of poor maintenance and a lack of critical repairs.
“The failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams caused impacts that were devastating but avoidable,” said Phil Roos, director of the state environment agency.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asked experts to study what happened at the Edenville and Sanford dams. The 2022 report said failure was “foreseeable and preventable” but could not be “attributed to any one individual, group or organization.”
Separately, the state is facing a flood of litigation from affected property owners. They accuse regulators of making decisions that contributed to the disaster, including setting higher water levels in Wixom Lake.
___
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.