State cracks down on dam violations

AUGUSTA – Maine has warned a dam owner in Canton to make needed repairs to his dam or the state will use authority granted four years ago to mandate repairs, levy fines or force discontinuance of use of the dam.

“It’s a matter of the public’s health and safety,” said Bill Libby, commissioner of defense, veterans and emergency management. “We have a number of options under the law if a dam owner does not keep a dam in repair.”

The state has authority over about 800 dams across the state. Most are relatively small and do not include the large hydropower dams that are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“That does not mean the dams we regulate are not significant,” said Art Cleaves, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency. “Some of them are quite large and have a significant [water] impoundment.”

Libby sent his first letter last month to Raymond Fortier, owner of the Anasagunticook Dam in Canton, requiring the dam owner to meet with the state over the poor condition of the dam. The letter was sent only after several meetings and letters.

“Your continued disregard for proper maintenance is a threat to public safety,” Libby wrote, “under Maine law, the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management may impose significant civil penalties for violation of the requirements of the dam safety laws.”

The law sets the penalty at not less than $100 a day with a maximum of $5,000 a day. Libby hopes dam owners will do what is needed for safety without the state needing to impose fines or take other steps.

“The law gives us many options, one of which is to lower the impoundment, one of which is to have the state take over ownership,” he said.

Fortier said he has had several meetings and exchanged letters with state and local officials about the dam. He said the overlapping jurisdictions over the dam and its operations have been a major problem.

“I had the forms all up and ready to pour concrete and the town code enforcement officer comes over and says you can’t do that, you have no permit,” he said. “And then there is the DEP and what they tell me I have to do and how to do it.”

Fortier said he realizes there is maintenance needed on his dam, but complained that the government agencies involved give him conflicting instructions on what needs to be done and how to do it. He does plan to attend the meeting on his dam later this month.

“The purpose of the meeting we have called is to bring all parties together,” Cleaves said.” Copies of the letter also went to the town and to DEP.

Cleaves said several other dams that are in poor shape and need of repairs also might be targeted for action under the law if the owners do not take steps to improve the facility.

The state ranks dams on the potential harm they could cause to people or property should the dam fail. A dam that poses a risk to people living in the area that would be flooded is at the top of the inspection list and requires development of an emergency action plan.

One dam determined to be in poor condition by the state dam inspector is the Lily Pond dam on Deer Isle. Owner Richard Avery acknowledges that maintenance is needed on the dam as well as an emergency action plan.

“What’s in bad shape is that over the years some trees have grown up on the earthen dam itself,” he said, “and the state engineer, Tony Fletcher, did not like that. He also was rightly concerned that around the concrete sluiceway, which is smack in the middle of the dam, when the water level is high, it sometimes trickles around the sluiceway.”

Avery said the dam creates a “great swimming hole” in the summer and provides a water source for the Fire Department. He plans to talk with the department and local officials about how to comply with state suggestions.

In another case where the state inspector has raised concerns, Malletts Mill in Lee, owner Lloyd Mallett is asking for another inspection. He told state officials he questions the findings of the first inspection.

“We are going to do another inspection,” Cleaves said, “just as soon as the weather permits.”

While the inspections have been targeted to dams with the highest potential for causing damage, dams that sometimes are rated in good condition fail and cause significant damage.

“We were surprised at the dam in Bingham that let go,” Cleaves said, “it was in good condition, but when it went it caused $1.4 million in damage to highways.”

Fletcher is Maine’s only dam inspector. In a report he did for the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, he warned that Maine has few resources for the number of dams that need regular inspections.

“The Maine Dam Safety Program is critically short of resources,” he wrote, “and the task of hydrological validation has become more and more pressing, especially in light of recent dam failures in the state.”

There is no additional funding for the program in the current state budget.