Mallory McMorrow Responds to Potential Failure of Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex

MICHIGAN — In response to reports that the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex is nearing the brink of disaster as water levels behind the dam are rising dangerously — threatening the lives of hundreds of Michiganders and potentially causing millions of dollars in damage –– Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow released the following statement:

“Right now, 75% of dams in Michigan are privately owned, and if the Cheboygan dam fails, it will be the second privately owned dam to fail in Michigan in the past six years,” said Mallory McMorrow. “This is a dangerous pattern that we’ve seen before: private investment buys up critical infrastructure and fails to keep it up to date, risking countless lives and costing millions of dollars. Public infrastructure should be publicly owned. Michiganders’ lives and livelihoods depend on it.”

Crews from DNR have been working tirelessly to try to mitigate the worst, but failure to maintain the privately-owned adjoining hydropower plant has reduced the dam complex’s ability to pass water through to downstream by as much as 30%, according to reporting by Bridge Michigan, requiring the DNR-owned side to work beyond capacity to manage water levels.

The dam’s private owners, Hom Paper XI LLC, repeatedly pushed off ordered repairs of the structure and the attached hydroelectric plant, leaving it dangerously susceptible to overflow and failure.

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