Raymond Fortier has been warned to make repairs to the Anasagunticook Dam in Canton.
AUGUSTA – Maine has warned a Canton dam owner to make needed repairs or the state will use authority granted four years ago to mandate repairs, levy fines or force discontinuance of use of the dam.
“It’s a matter of the public’s health and safety,” said Bill Libby, commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management. “We have a number of options under the law if a dam owner does not keep a dam in repair.”
The state has authority over about 800 dams. Most are relatively small and do not include the large hydro-power dams regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“That does not mean the dams we regulate are not significant,” said Art Cleaves, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency. “Some of them are quite large and have a significant (water) impoundment.”
Last month, Libby sent his first letter requiring a dam owner to meet with the state over the poor condition of a dam. The letter went to Raymond Fortier, owner of the Anasagunticook Dam in Canton and was sent only after several meetings and letters.
“Your continued disregard for proper maintenance is a threat to public safety,” Libby wrote. “Under Maine law, the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management may impose significant civil penalties for violation if the requirements of the dam safety laws.”
The law sets the penalty at not less than $100 a day with a maximum of $5,000 a day. Libby hopes dam owners will do what is needed for safety without the state imposing fines or taking other steps.
“The law gives us many options, one of which is to lower the impoundment; another is to have the state take over ownership,” he said.
Fortier said he has had several meetings and exchanged letters with state and local officials about the dam. He said overlapping jurisdictions over the dam and its operations have been a major problem.
“I had the forms all up and ready to pour concrete and the town code enforcement officer comes over and says you can’t do that, you have no permit,” he said. “And then there is the DEP and what they tell me I have to do and how to do it.”
Fortier said he realizes maintenance is needed on his dam, but complained the government agencies involved give him conflicting instructions on what needs to be done and how to do it. He does plan to attend the meeting on his dam later this month.
Cleaves said several other dams that are in poor shape and in need of repairs may also be targeted for action under the law if the owners do not take steps to improve the facility.
The state ranks dams on the potential harm they could cause to persons or property should the dam fail. A dam that poses a risk to persons living in the area that would be flooded is at the top of the inspection list and requires development of an emergency action plan.
Maine only has one dam inspector, Tony Fletcher. In a report he did for the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, he warned that Maine has too few resources for the number of dams that need regular inspections.
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