South Carolina Dams Failed to Pass Prior Inspections

Eric Chaney
Published: October 15,2015

More than 30 dams across South Carolina failed during the recent heavy rains, enhancing the disastrous flooding that swept the state earlier this month.According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 32 dams had failed as of October 13, including seven in the C-1 category, meaning failure might cause “loss of life or serious damage to infrastructure.”

Emergency crews initiated a controlled release to relieve pressure on the Beaver Creek Dam, near Columbia.
(SDHEC)

The hardest hit area was Richland County, where 17 different failures occurred, due, The State newspaper reports, to cracks and holes in the dams and overgrowth that made it impossible, in some cases, for inspectors to thoroughly review the dams.The SDHEC oversees all inspections of dams in the state and had repeatedly cited most of the dams that failed in state inspection reports over the last several years, according to records released Monday evening by state officials.
In one particular case, The State reports, erosion was discovered in the same area of a dam during six inspections over two years.
PHOTOS: (Before and After Photos of the SC Flooding)
DHEC inspectors visited C-1 classified, 65-year-old Walden Place Pond dam, outside Elgin, six times between April 2013 and April 2015 because of ongoing erosion, seepage and tree problems.
The most recent inspection report underscores the need for immediate repair work on the dam stating “erosion should be corrected ASAP … please contact [SDHEC] about maintenance needed on the dam … you have 30 days to lower the pond level … such that the seepage stops.”
Upper Rockyford Lake dam, which blew out a day after the Oct. 4 torrent, has been cited at least three times in recent years for having trees and vegetation on the earthen structure, the most recent report noting evidence of erosion on a slope of the dam.
Tom Teuber, a leader in the Upper Rockyford Lake homeowners group, told The State that his association has tried its best to follow DHEC’s requests to improve the dam by regularly clearing some of the vegetation, although the large trees still exist. “We have been fairly aggressive’’ in maintaining the dam, Teuber said. “We want the dam to be in good shape.’’
The state needs tougher oversight of dams, says Dave Hargett, an adjunct professor at Clemson University who has tracked dam safety for years in South Carolina. Harriet told The State paper that last weekend’s dam failures could have happened much earlier.
“We were lucky for a long time,’’ Hargett said.
MORE: (What the SC Flooding Looks Like From Space)
DHEC has said it uses staff from other departments to help bolster its dam inspection program, Hartgett told The State, noting that recently a food inspector came out to look over the Lake Conestee dam Hartgett helps manage near Greenville.
“He was a nice fellow, but in context, you get all these ancillary people doing this who have zero knowledge of dams,’’ Hargett said. “You don’t have the dedicated staff.’’
In the wake of this month’s multiple failures, Governor Nikki Haley told the Charlotte Observer that the state will be “reconfiguring the way we do dams in South Carolina.
“Do we have enough engineers to monitor those dams? How are we going to go and maintain those dams going forward?”
MORE: SC Dam Fail Drains Pond