Report: DNR behind in state dam inspections

Ran on Wednesday,August 15, 2007

Report: DNR behind in state dam inspections

By The Associated Press And Leader-telegram Staff

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has not inspected at least 230 state-regulated dams since August 1997, despite a state law that requires inspections at least once every 10 years, according to a newspaper's analysis of state data.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said in a report in its Monday edition that the dams that have not been inspected make up about one-quarter of the 926 state-regulated dams.

The dams are inspected by private inspectors and the state Department of Natural Resources.

The Journal Sentinel said 67 of the dams that have not been inspected during that time are considered a high or significant hazard.

"It has nothing to do with the soundness of the dam," said Gary Lepak, water management engineer with the DNR. "It's if the dam would fail, what would happen."

If a lot of damage would happen if a dam broke, the hazard is considered high.

Lepak said some of the ratings are labeled high due to zoning issues.

In the Chippewa Valley, the DNR annually schedules inspections for dams that are due. "It's part of our scheduling," Lepak said. "Every year we sit down and look at structures that need to be inspected."

In the DNR's Dam Safety Program database, two dams in Chippewa County are marked with the last inspection in 1981. However, Lepak said one has been done in the past month, and the other is scheduled to be inspected next year. Both have low hazard ratings.

The high-hazard Middle Appleton Dam on the Lower Fox River in Outagamie County has gone the longest without an inspection, the newspaper said, adding that its last check was in November 1981.

Nearly 80 percent of all state-regulated dams have no emergency action plans in case the dams fail, as required by law, the Journal Sentinel said. It said about half of the 205 high-hazard dams and 84 percent of the 135 significant-hazard dams have no emergency plans, according to the records it inspected.

"For the significant- and high-hazard dams, it concerns me because you are talking about a potential for loss of life," said Meg Galloway, a state dam safety engineer.

Randy Romanski, a top aide to Wisconsin's DNR secretary, said that all high-hazard dams that have not been inspected in 10 years would get visual inspection by Sept. 30 and full inspection by August 2008.

"Public safety is the highest priority, and we're going to do everything we can to protect public safety," he said. "We're confident that there are no dams out there that are an imminent threat of life or major property damage that are in danger of failing."

The inspections consist of checking the soundness of the structure, the changes since the construction or last inspection, the potential growth factor of the region and the control of the seepage.

"All dams are going to have some leakage," Lepak said.