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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 09:12 AM Apr 2021

Dam safety advocates feel forgotten in Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan


“It’s one of those ticking time bombs that can really devastate a community,” said a Michigan woman who was rescued from a dam collapse last year.

April 9, 2021, 4:30 AM EDT

By Erin Einhorn

When President Joe Biden last week introduced a sweeping $2 trillion infrastructure plan, the details read like a Christmas wish list for people hoping to see more federal spending on roads, bridges, airports, schools and other deteriorating public resources.

But while the long list of projects in what Biden called a “once-in-a-generation investment in America” seems exhaustive, some advocates, including those concerned about the threat posed by aging dams, are concerned that their priorities are getting short shrift.

“I read it like three times and I’m like, ‘Am I missing something here?’” said Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, who noted that the urgent need to repair crumbling dams that threaten lives and property across the country gets only a passing mention in the nearly 12,000-word fact sheet the administration released.

“We have 90,000 dams in America, and so many of those dams are aging and in need of upgrades,” Spragens said, adding that $20 billion is needed just to repair dams in high-population areas where a failure could be catastrophic. “If you’re going to spend $2 trillion on a plan to improve the nation’s infrastructure, we think it’s very important that some of this infrastructure funding go to a serious public safety issue that affects every state in America.”

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/dam-safety-advocates-feel-forgotten-biden-s-2-trillion-infrastructure-n1263470
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Dam safety advocates feel forgotten in Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan (Original Post) DonViejo Apr 2021 OP
Oh boy did I read that title wrong. Tommymac Apr 2021 #1
What did those dam safety advocates do now? FSogol Apr 2021 #2
We just went through that process locally... Wounded Bear Apr 2021 #3

Wounded Bear

(58,440 posts)
3. We just went through that process locally...
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 09:37 AM
Apr 2021

In our county in Western Washington there was a dam that was found to be seeping water. It took a couple of years and it involved putting up dikes along the Green River for dozens of miles to protect farms and cities along the route.

The US Army Corp of Engineers handled it and it has been deemed safe after the repairs now and all the dikes came down.

But this is a real thing.

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