Engineers: Local dam has high hazard potential

Although Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says the French Landing Dam is “operating as designed and in good working order,” a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers doesn’t agree.
Last Thursday, after two dams in Midland County failed and flooded a large area, Supervisor McNamara said he knew somebody would be asking about French Landing Dam in Van Buren Township.
He said he understands the Midland County dams weakened when they stopped taking down the water every year. He said the freshwater mussel get hurt if they take the water level down.
And, he said, he understands the dams were ready to go anyway.
Van Buren Township had considered taking down the water level of Belleville Lake last year for lakeside residents to repair docks and seawalls, but then decided not to do so.
He said every year Eagle Creek, which runs the hydropower dam for owner Van Buren Township, does a safety examination and gives the results to FERC.
McNamara said starting in 2019, Van Buren Township and Eagle Creek began doing things to maintain the dam. Last year they did three projects, including a study of the embankments.
He said they will be doing nine different things through 2021.
“We need that lake,” McNamara said, referring to Belleville Lake. The lake was formed with the dam across the Huron River.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a National Inventory of Dams in 2018 and reported that of the 14 total dams in Wayne County, MI, 100% had high hazard potential.
The average age of the Wayne County dams was 73. Ninety-three percent of the dams were regulated by the state and seven percent were regulated by a federal agency, including French Landing. Seven percent were dams with hydropower.
On the Army Corps of Engineers report it said the French Landing Dam was completed in 1924 and now has a high hazard potential. The 2018 report was updated through January 2020.
“High hazard potential” classification, the top danger criteria, means loss of human life is likely if the dam fails, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
French Landing was also categorized as being in unsatisfactory condition, along with 18 other Michigan dams.
The report said the last inspection date was July 27, 2017 and the data was provided to the report on Aug. 5, 2018.
Last May after heavy rainfall, some residents of Huron Township voiced concern about the French Landing Dam in Van Buren Township, according to the Huron Hub. The Huron Township Department of Public Safety posted on its Facebook page that the dam was at a high flow-alert level but is not in danger of failing.
“Due to recent rain, the French Landing Dam is at the ‘High Flow’ alert level. This means flooding is occurring on the river system but there is no apparent threat to the integrity of the dam. At this time, the dam is not in danger of failing,” the department said a year ago.
“We will provide updates should the alert level be upgraded. All residences in the affected zone have been notified.”
According to the department, four homes in Huron Township have been specifically identified as homes that could be impacted by a failure at the dam.
“A protocol and emergency action plan is in place specifically for issues and emergencies relating to the French Landing Dam,” the department said in a statement on May 2, 2019.
“If there is an emergency threat to the French Landing Dam, Huron Township officers will respond directly to the affected homes to notify residents. We have very recently made contact at the affected residences and will once again make sure they are aware of the emergency action plan in an effort to make them feel safe and secure,” police said last year.
If the French Landing Dam breeched, much of the 25,000 acre-feet of water being held there from the Huron River would flood downstream through the Lower Huron Metropark and into New Boston, which is in Huron Township, heading toward Lake Erie.
According to MLive, the National Weather Service reported a crest of 15.95 feet in the Huron River in Ann Arbor around noon on May 19, just half an inch shy of the river’s official minor flood stage. Since rainfall began May 17, the area received just over 2 inches of rain, according to Ann Arbor city meters at Barton Pond.