B.C.B次元官网网址檚 largest hydroelectric and open-pit mine dams have been under close scrutiny in recent years, but the same canB次元官网网址檛 be said for hundreds of other dams around the province, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 auditor general says.
Auditor General Michael PickupB次元官网网址檚 review of regulated dams used for power generation, irrigation and flood control found that more than 60 per cent of those sampled lacked key information such as emergency contact and height of the dam. Nearly 200 dams were missing from ministry records
There are 1,900 regulated dams in the province, some designated as high-risk, and 87 of those had B次元官网网址渟ignificant deficienciesB次元官网网址� that were not repaired for an average of more than seven years after the problems were identified, according to , released Sept. 14.
The audit did not include dams under construction, including B.C. HydroB次元官网网址檚 Site C dam on the Peace River, or those associated with mines. Its focus is on the many smaller dams in the jurisdiction of the the forests and lands ministry.
In a statement to Black Press Media, the ministry said it is hiring five more dam safety staff to help take action on the auditorB次元官网网址檚 recommendations.
B次元官网网址淲hile dam owners are responsible for ensuring the safety of their operations, we recognize thereB次元官网网址檚 more government can be doing to assist with oversight, outreach, and education,B次元官网网址� the ministry said.
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The audit makes nine recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the forests and lands ministry. They include reaching out to more dam owners to encourage safety training, rather than sending annual letters to owners of B次元官网网址渉igh, very high and extreme consequenceB次元官网网址� dams. B次元官网网址淕oing forward, the ministry will explore options to expand this correspondence to include low and significant consequenceB次元官网网址� dam owners, the ministry said in its response to the audit.
Another recommendation is to review staffing for mine inspection. The audit found that four out of 10 dam safety officers had a backlog of reports on high-consequence dam safety to review. B次元官网网址淎verage time to accept safety reports was 20 months,B次元官网网址� the audit states. B次元官网网址淪ome took eight years.B次元官网网址�
Pickup also recommends a province-wide program to identify dams built without authorization.
B次元官网网址淒am failures do not normally cause fatalities, but they can cause other damage,B次元官网网址� the audit says. B次元官网网址淭he ministry reported, on average, three structural dam failures each year over the past five years, most of them causing minimal damage; however, larger failures have occurred in the past. For example, in 2010 the Testalinden Dam failed, destroying or damaging five homes and causing significant damage to crops and farm equipment.The debris covered 200 metres of Highway 97 and blocked several secondary roads. The estimated cost of this dam failure was in the millions of dollars.B次元官网网址�
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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