A slew of newly released Open Records Responses has provided substantial new information about the timeline for studies, repairs, tests, etc. One way or the other… the situation with the Dam is heading for a conclusion it appears. There is much too much information to cover in a single article, so we will begin this mini-series with a summary overview, and a few brief points of where we are at present. We will be releasing several more in-depth articles that drill down into the facts over the coming weeks.
https://LakePetitDam.com has been updated with much of the recently released documentation. Scroll down to the very bottom of the Index page for the most recent documents. Below are some highlites and summaries:
Petit Dam Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Manual (125 Pages; 10 Mb)
O&M Notes: Just some of the more pertinent things that jumped out at me.
- Pages 9 – 13 give a good general description of the components of the Dam
- Page 14 – water volume data *
- Pages 15 & 16 – LLO specs and history <important, as test is coming up
- Pg 19 Section 4.2.3 – Seepage guidance **
- Pg 22 Section 4.3.2 – Low Level Conduit <important, as test is coming up
- Pg 29 Section 7 – Leaks and Boils at base of Dam is of great concern; potential drain the lake guidance given **
Pg 73; 2nd to last paragraph – “Exercise of infrequently operated lifts and gates is recommended. An annual exercise will ensure the gate is operable when needed and the lubrication condition will be maintained.” ***
* New data conflicts (much higher) with false data used by Geosyntec in previous stability reports.
** relevant due to new seepage and wet spots discovered at base of dam and in ballfield
*** exceptionally relevant due to fact that the Gates have never in 50 years been tested
A Series of Communications between Ga Safe Dams, Geosyntec and the POA have established a hard deadline of March 31, 2023 to test the 50 year old Lower Level Outlet & Gate for the 1st time in history. We will be devoting an entire article to the details surrounding this upcoming event, which involves substantial risks, and is not guaranteed to work.
Also established as a hard deadline is the requirement for Big Canoe / Geosyntec to finally submit a Stability Report on the Dam by April 28, 2023. Lake Petit Dam failed in earlier 1997/8 stability and seismic studies by our previous engineers (JJG & PGC). GA Safe Dams issued a 1998 non-compliance letter demanding fixes within the year. Big Canoe POA subsequently switched to Geosyntec in 1998 for “creative solutions”. Geosyntec lived up to their reputation and indeed got “Creative” with data to perform a Stability Study that barely pulled Lake Petit Dam up enough to squeak by with a passing grade (and yet, that repeatedly applauded and referenced accomplishment turned out to not have ever been accepted by Ga Safe Dams). The recently completed “Bathymetric Survey“ (measures lake volume and size) was finally completed in late 2022, after Big Canoe ignored 4 previous years of repeated demands that they comply. This actual real data now shows that the “Creative” data previously used by Geosyntec was well below actual Lake Volume (they now admit they just “estimated” 25 years ago, while ignoring officially recorded higher volume data). Currently they have until April 28, 2023 to “create” a new stability study on the Dam, using the real data, which shows the true lake volume to be approximately 42% higher than the creative data Geosyntec previously used. (1998 Stability Whitepaper: 3000 Ac/Ft Volume vs. 2022 Bathymetric Survey: 4235 Ac/Ft Volume). It is really going to be popcorn time watching Geosyntec manipulate these numbers, in a now 51 year old dam, that has degraded much further in the past 25 years and is springing new leaks and wet spots like a sieve… into a passing Stability Study ….. especially considering that they barely squeaked by the minimum needed using the fake 3000 Ac/Ft data. To put this challenge in simple layman’s terms…. more volume increases the pressure coefficient used in stability calculations. The real data now shows that 42% more water volume is pushing against the Dam than previously reported, which decreases stability. This is the summary. A more comprehensive article dedicated to this single issue will be released soon.
Due to increases in recent leaks and wetspots, and as a followup to the 20 May 2021 Non-Compliance Letter, it has now been determined that drain modifications to the face of the Dam are expected “to require intrusive work on the dam which requires plans to be submitted to GSDP for an updated permit.” The exploratory work was recently scheduled for early January 2023, almost 2 years after being told to do so. This can be found referenced in a recently released Dec 15 Letter from Geosyntec. Big Canoe has not updated the community on this new development to my knowledge, nor is it known whether this is included in the current $2,191,598 in the 2023 Budget for work on the Petit Dam. A point of interest regarding that number being that if either the Lower Level Drain & Gate test, or the Stability Report, or both, fail to materialize as hoped…. then the price tag for this goes exponentially higher – AND all of the $Million+$ already spent may have been wasted for nothing.
The BC Smoke Signals recently ran a front page story crowing about the approval of the Lake Petit Dam Emergency Action Plan. As usual, this #FakeNews rag of a publication appears to have done no journalistic research to confirm what they were most likely told to print by POA Management. FOBC News will soon be releasing a thorough article on the facts. A summary of those facts to date is that 2 months after Ga Safe Dams instructed the POA (on Dec 12 2022) to distribute a final copy of the EAP to various Agencies for final approval, the POA has failed to do so. The EAP has been found to contain false statements, in which Pickens EMA was blamed by the POA for providing incorrect addressing and parcel info. Pickens EMA as of February 10 2023 wasn’t even aware that the EAP was complete, and was under the impression it was still undergoing changes. MOST DISTURBINGLY, comparisons of the new EAP to previous EAPs has discovered that all of the Petit Lakeshore properties, that are also under high risk due to landslides along the shoreline in the event of a rapid draining of the lake, have been inexplicably removed from the EAP Emergency Notifications List. Pickens EMA, when asked about their confidence that these homes will be included in emergency alerts as it stands under the current EAP, responded with “No Confidence” <direct quote>. Big Canoe Management has failed to explain the removal of these properties from the Emergency Notification List. It is the opinion of FOBC that this was done for “public relations” reasons, which appear to have trumped simple basic preparedness guidelines. Full article coming soon with more data. In the meantime, for interested property owners, here is a partial list of at risk Lake Petit properties, that have been inexplicably removed from the Notification list. Markedly absent are the Dawson County Properties along the lakeshore as well. Link to property list.
Lastly, we come to Scott Auer, the highly paid ($250K+/- yr) General Manager of Big Canoe. A man who always finds a way to use 1000 words, when 10 will suffice. A man who never met a rambling story that he couldn’t use to distract from answering a question. And perhaps most disturbing… a man that is incapable of providing simple and truthful information to the community. Words matter. The following 2 excerpts compare Scott Auer’s recent Board Meeting presentation to property owners, and our Engineer presenting the same findings to Ga Safe Dams.
Description of upcoming work on Lower Level Outlet / Inlet Gate as presented by Scott Auer in January Board Meeting: (See Time between 10:00 ~ 13:53)
Excerpt at 10:47:
“They did fully inspect all 800 feet… the best rating the company can give is “Good”. We got “Good” all the way through the pipe. They didn’t see anything at all that worried them, or that was alarming, or that needed any remediation or anything, so the pipe all the way through to the back of the sluice gate, which you can get to, are in absolutely fine condition”
Now for comparison is how our Engineer described it an excerpt from a December 15 letter to Ga Safe Dams:
“The proposed drain modifications do not include modification to the Low-Level Outlet (LLO) or the LLO conduit, which has been recently observed to be in fair condition.”
It is unnecessary, and unprofessional, to dramatize this sort of information. Conflating “fair condition” up to “best rating the company can give” is simply manipulative, lying, #bullshit. Big Canoe deserves better than a glorified cheerleader as its General Manager, and Property Owners should definitely demand higher communication standards from a man that is paid approximately $250K per year. Combine this with the repeated failures of the Big Canoe Smoke Signals to fairly and accurately report on the Lake Petit Dam, and it is no wonder that Big Canoe Property Owners have no clue about the real scope of the problems with our Dam.
In the coming weeks, FOBC will be releasing several detailed articles breaking down the specifics of all these separate, complex, and developing issues with the Dam. Stay tuned, and feel free to forward the e-blasts, and re-post the articles. And dare I suggest… start asking questions, and demanding answers.
This Article Shareable Online at our FOBC Public News Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FocusonBigCanoeGA
Peace,
– david / publisher
Focus on Big Canoe, GA
* a publication of The Mountains Voice
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