CHARLOTTE, N.C. — State environmental records show hundreds of private and public dam owners failed to submit safety documentation to a state agency by the deadline.
Legislation required dam owners to submit an Emergency Action Plan by Dec. 31 of last year. The requirement applies to dams that are considered high-hazard or intermediate. The status high-hazard means a failure could result in loss of life or serious damage but does not refer to the condition of the dam.
The plans are designed to help emergency officials and dam owners respond in a crisis.
Channel 9 requested data from the Department of Environmental Quality to see how many dam owners followed the deadline. In several Charlotte area counties, approximately 140 dam owners did not submit plans as of April 3.
Almost all of the dams have private owners. However, records showed the City of Kings Mountain, Bessemer City and the Town of Cherryville had not submitted EAPs for municipally owned dams. No one from any of the governments responded to requests for comment Thursday.
A Department of Environmental Quality official told Channel 9 that he estimates a little more than 50 percent of owners have submitted EAPs as required.
"What will surprise me if we don't get them all in in too terribly a long time," said Toby Vinson, chief of program operations for the Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources.
Environmental officials said they are not penalizing dam owners who haven't made the deadline. Instead, they said they working with the dam owners and bring them into compliance.
Dam owners will get notice during regular inspections informing them of the need for an EAP.
"You may incur liability should your dam have a problem or fail, if such results in loss of life or property damage downstream," reads part of the notice.
Environmental officials said many owners have informed them that they are working on submitting the EAPs. Officials plan to work with owners longer before considering fines or other penalties.
In October, Channel 9 looked into dam safety following historic flooding in Columbia, South Carolina, in late 2015.
North Carolina ranks second in the nation for the number of dams classified as high-hazard, according to federal data created in 2013.
A 2013 infrastructure study by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave North Carolina a D when it comes to grading the state's maintenance of its dams. The report estimated it would take $1.9 billion to rehabilitate the state's non-federally owned and privately owned dams.
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