Former NYPA Official comments on Lewiston Reservoir sinkhole threat
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Niagara Reporter- · September 8, 2016
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The chief engineer formerly in charge of the NYPA Niagara Power Project hydroelectric facility at Lewiston, NY, last week responded to a Sept. 1 Artvoice article revealing the presence of what was termed a sinkhole next to its associated reservoir. Although the presumed sinkhole, first discovered during a routine inspection last year, was later recast as a “swale” by NYPA engineers, federal watchdogs at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) instructed NYPA in no uncertain terms to keep close watch on the accumulating moisture at the base of the reservoir’s earthen dike.
“I am a graduate Electrical Engineer with 30 years’ experience in the power industry,” John Phillips told us, “In my last 20 years, I was responsible for operations of the Niagara (Power) Project.”
Phillips, who retired in 2001, undertook to refute conclusions we had drawn based on letters that were exchanged between FERC and NYPA engineers starting in November, 2015 documenting that a “dam breach analysis” was performed, leading to updates by NYPA of both the Niagara Power Project Emergency Action Plan and something called an “inundation map”.
“This is a minor issue… Every five years as required, tabletop exercises are conducted. Independent consultants with the FERC (and) NYPA perform annual physical inspections of the civil works,” commented Phillips on our article.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the government entity whose job it is “to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards,” according to its mission statement, which would include the catastrophic flooding of surrounding communities like Lewiston, the town of Niagara and the Tuscarora Reservation should the earthen walls of the reservoir fail.
Tabletop exercises are, according to FEMA, “activities typically held in an informal setting and presented by the Facilitator. There is no hands-on practice or field work. This type of exercise is intended to generate discussion of various issues regarding a hypothetical, simulated emergency… Delivered in a low-stress environment, the tabletop exercise offers participants the opportunity to explore different ideas in the context of a real-world scenario. All participants should be encouraged to contribute to the discussion and be reminded they are making decisions in a “no-fault” environment.”
These casual, “low-stress” tabletop encounter groups, first responders’ brainstorms regarding threat mitigation, apparently constitute a significant portion of the preparation for what the response would be in the event of an incident at the Lewiston Reservoir.
The Niagara County Department of Emergency Services’ Hazard Mitigation Plan (prepared by consultants Ecology and Environment, Inc.), rates the Lewiston Reservoir dike a “High Hazard”, due to its significant potential for loss of life, economic loss, environmental damage and interruption of critical services.
“The size of the (Lewiston Reservoir) combined with the potential to impact large populations makes the failure of any one of these a major threat. If the Robert Moses – Niagara Power Dam or the Lewiston Reservoir Dike were to fail the impact of the resulting floods would likely be felt by the residents and business owners within the town of Niagara, city of Niagara Falls, the Tuscarora Nation and the town of Lewiston, totaling approximately 82,000 people.”
“The only dike failure of a captive reservoir in the United States was the Taum Sauk reservoir in Missouri. This was due to over-pumping,” continues Phillips (edited for clarity), “These and many more incidents are studied by engineers and current standards continually upgraded (so as to) to improved dam performance.”
That, according to a former NYPA chief engineer in charge of one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world, there have been “many more incidents” of disastrous flooding due to earthen dam failures sounds like it should be of concern to the public.
Charley Bowman, executive director of the WNY Peace Center and renewable energy activist, posed the following questions on the Artvoice website: “Have FERC and NYPA increased the frequency of inspections? How does one update emergency plans in such instances where a small leak can turn into a raging torrent within an hour or two?”
We visited the village of Lewiston offices, the Lewiston Public Library and the Lewiston Police department, and called the Niagara County Sheriff Department attempting to obtain a copy of the “inundation map” referred to in the FERC/NYPA letters, but were unsuccessful in obtaining access.
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