Oct 18, 2005 10:28 pm US/Eastern
The I-Team Investigates The State Of MA Dams
(CBS4)
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Of the state's 3,000 dams, 320 of them are considered high hazard.
CBS4
So how many dams in this state are in trouble, and has the state been doing enough to keep on top of the situation? CBS4's I-Team has been investigating, and I-Team reporter Joe Bergantino has uncovered some startling facts that you should know.
"Today," said Gov. Romney, "I'm ordering an emergency inspection of all MA high hazard dams."
While you've been watching this drama unfold in Taunton involving this dam on the brink of collapse, there are dozens of other dams in Massachusetts that pose significant risks.
"We realize that all these dams may have suffered from all the rainfall last week," Romney said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The state office of dam safety is responsible for inspecting the state's three thousand dams, but our I-Team investigation has learned that state agency is failing to keep on top of those inspections and repairs.
Of the state's 3,000 dams, 320 of them are considered high hazard. That means if there's a failure, there's a high risk of death and destruction.
Sixty-five percent of those dams haven't been inspected in years. Why? Because the state only has three inspectors to keep track of 3,000 dams.
"For the life of the program, it's been tough to keep up with the resources we have," said Bill Salomaa of Dam Safety.
Another problem: state regulations require owners of dams to have emergency action plans in place should they fail.
But, the I-Team found almost two-thirds of the high hazard dams do not have adequate plans in place, and because of weak regulations, there's nothing the state can do to crackdown on owners who haven't filed those plans.
"Just as it's difficult to get people to spend money to fix dams," Salomaa said. "It's also tough to get them to spend money on emergency action plans, full emergency action plans."
On top of that, there are 34 dams in the state -- including two dams in Freetown -- that are in extremely poor condition and in need of substantial repairs to avoid eventual collapse.
But state inspectors cannot force owners to repair the dams unless the danger is imminent.
Ironically, the state office of dam safety hasn't even inspected three of the dams its own agency owns, and 12 of the dams it owns are in very poor condition.
That raises serious questions as to how this agency can crackdown on other owners when they're not doing everything they can to make sure their own dams are in good condition.
The I-Team has compiled an inventory of all high hazard and poor conditions dams in the state, along with the dates of their last inspections. To find out more, visit the
I-Team section on this Web site.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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