Many dams don’t have emergency plans if they fail, state officials say

CHARLOTTE — Hundreds of dams in North Carolina don’t have an emergency plan in place if they fail.

The Beam Road Dam in west Charlotte was built to control flooding and store water and is one of more than 6,100 dams in North Carolina.

North Carolina’s Dam Safety Program classifies the dam, which is close to roads downstream, as a high hazard.

The state’s Department of Environmental Quality sent a letter to the dam’s owner in June saying property could get damaged and people could die if the dam fails.

The impact of a dam failure can be devastating.

Heavy rains in 2015 in South Carolina caused 50 state and federally regulated dams to breach or fail.

The widespread flooding killed 19 people in the Carolinas and caused hundreds of road closures.

DEQ officials said the Beam Road Dam is one of more than 1,500 high-hazard dams in North Carolina.

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“In North Carolina, it’s also growing pretty rapidly,” said Josh Colley, a dam safety engineer at DEQ. “So this can lead to a problem that we call hazard creep, which is where development occurs downstream of dams that were not anticipated when that dam was designed and built.”

State inspectors assessed the Beam Road Dam in January and found it to be in poor condition.

The owner never created an Emergency Action Plan in the event the dam fails, according to the DEQ.

“Dam safety law does require that all high and intermediate hazard dams do have an EAP,” Colley said.

The cost to create an EAP can range between $10,000 and $25,000, he said.

He believes that’s why some dam owners don’t prepare one.

The state’s inventory shows 1,093 dams, which are about one-sixth of the dams in the state, do not have an EAP.

DEQ can issue “a notice of deficiency” and fine owners up to $500 a day.

“We have issued notices, notices of deficiency, and dam safety orders when warranted,” Colley said. “We do take that seriously.”

Channel 9′s Erika Jackson asked the state how many times the DEQ has cited dam owners for not having an EAP.

A spokesperson said the state hasn’t issued any fines or citations to dam owners for violating the EAP law.

The spokesperson also said the Beam Road Dam is not under a notice of deficiency either.

The spokesperson added the state is more focused on helping the dam owners create a plan.

“When they’re not in good condition, we notify the owners, and we assist them in making sure they’re taking corrective action to bring those dams into a good condition,” Colley said.

Learn more about dam safety here.

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