Dead River Project (P-10855), Silver Lake Incident

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• December 8, 2005: Reconstruction of the Silver Lake Development: Activities to Date 
   
• April 13, 2004: Silver Lake Fuse Plug Activation, Dead River Project, P-10855 - Summary of Conclusions 
   
• March 10, 2004: Response to Comments on Report No. 2 of FERC Independent Consultants Review Panel 
   
• February 2, 2004: Comments Submitted on Independent Consultants' Review Panel Report
  • Wickwire Gavin, P.C., letter on behalf of MWH 
  • Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, letter on behalf of Upper Peninsula Power Company 
  • City of Marquette letter 
• December 18, 2003: Independent Consultants Review Panel Report No. 2 titled "Technical Reasons for the Release of Silver Lake Reservoir on May 14-15, 2003" 
   
• October 24, 2003: Silver Lake Reservoir Fuse Plug Release Marquette County, Michigan, May 2003 Facts, Observations and Discussion Compiled and Prepared by MWH Americas, Inc. - Submitted by Wickwire Gavin, P.C. letter
  • MWH Report 
  • MWH Report Exhibits 
• October 6, 2003: Silver Lake Dam: Root Cause Report on the May 14, 2003 Operation of the Fuse Plug Spillway and Subsequent Channel Erosion Resulting in the Uncontrolled Release of Silver Lake Prepared by Washington Group International - Submitted by UPPCO letter
  • Silver Lake Dam: Root Cause Report 
  • Section I Figures 
  • Section II Figures 
  • Section III Figures 
  • Appendix A 
  • Appendix B 
• July 24, 2003: FERC Initial Report of Findings
  • Part 1
  • Part 2 
  • Part 3 
  • Part 4 
  • Part 5 
• June 7, 2003: Independent Consultant Review Panel Report No. 1 titled "Field Investigation Report" 
   
• May 16, 2003: Post-Fuse Plug Incident Action Plan
  Incident: Post-Fuseplug Incident Action Plan

  Staff will initiate an immediate evaluation and analysis to first establish the reason for the fuse plug failure and second, determine the appropriate repair to re-establish the project. An independent consultants review team will be convened to evaluate and oversee both the forensic evaluation and the re-design of the project repair.

  • Staff engineers were immediately dispatched to site to obtain initial information concerning fuseplug failure and assist in any necessary emergency response.
     
  • Review design report, construction plans and specifications, and construction records for fuse plug.
     
  • Hydrologic data of rainfall event and the record of reservoir elevations throughout the event will be evaluated and analyses performed to determine why the fuse plug activated. In addition, runoff characteristics and affect on reservoir elevation will be assessed to extrapolate to larger rainfall events.
     
  • A forensic evaluation of the failure of the fuseplug will be performed, including an evaluation by geotechnical consultants to determine the fuse plug performance.
     
  • A foundation exploratory program will be developed to obtain data and information for remedial action.
     
  • A re-assessment of the Silver Lake Dam and spillway Inflow Design Flood (IDF) will be made under the current rainfall event.
     
  • The forensic evaluation will include a critical review o the effectiveness of the Emergency Action Plan (EAP).
     
  • The results of the evaluation and analysis will be used to undertake a program wide review to apply knowledge gained to other Commission dams.
• May 14, 2003: Project and Incident Description 
   
• May 15–22, 2003: Photo Gallery