By Amanda Durish Cook

FERC has given a small Michigan hydropower company until March 1 to correct serious violations of federal safety regulations or once again face an order to shut down.

Boyce Hydro Power last month filed an emergency motion for a permanent stay of FERC’s November order that the 4.8-MW Edenville Dam in northern Michigan cease operation. On Friday, the commission denied the motion, citing Boyce’s “lengthy, extensive record of noncompliance” with safety and other regulations, but it did hand the company a March deadline, allowing flows to continue through the powerhouse in order to safely control reservoir levels in the face of heavy ice (10808-057).

FERC said the violations for the dam, located between Wixom Lake and the Tittabawassee River, include failing to increase spillway capacity to address the increased likelihood of more frequent flooding; performing unauthorized dam repairs and excavation; neglecting to file a public safety plan or follow its own water monitoring plan; failing to acquire all property rights; and failing to construct required recreation facilities near the dam. The commission said it has spent more than 13 years trying to get Boyce, which has owned the dam since 2004, to increase spillway capacity, the most serious of the safety violations. The company only began abiding by its water quality monitoring plan last July.

The Office of Energy Projects’ Division of Dam Safety and Inspections “has determined that the failure of the project dam could result in the loss of human life and the destruction of property and infrastructure,” FERC warned. It has repeatedly asked Boyce to construct two auxiliary spillways to reduce the risk of flooding. In return, Boyce last month filed a proposed funding plan for spillway construction and new draft maintenance plans.

The commission was unimpressed: “Boyce has repeatedly failed to comply with requests by the regional engineer and other commission staff to develop and implement plans and schedules to address the fact that the project spillways are not adequate to pass the probable maximum flood, thereby creating a grave danger to the public. … The public interest in ensuring that the dam is safe outweighs the potential economic harm to Boyce. We take our duty to protect the public extremely seriously.”