Letter informs of dam ‘hazard’

    Murphy – In an effort to inform citizens who could be impacted by a dam failure, Cherokee County officials delivered a potential hazard warning letter to the owners of seven properties downstream from Tanglewood Lake.
    “To reduce the vulnerability of people and property of this state to damage, injury and loss of life and property, you are hereby given notice and warning that the privately owned Tanglewood Dam is an imminent hazard to those persons and property in and around the inundation zone,” the letter says.
    The county’s Emergency Management Services is tasked with predicting “absolute worst-case scenarios.” At the advice of legal counsel, officials delivered the letter to property owners who North Carolina officials believe may be impacted if the lake’s dam failed.
    Officials stressed that they do not anticipate the earthen dam’s failure. However, county officials cannot predict when or if the dam may fail, the letter says.
    “Cherokee County does not own or have authority over Tanglewood Dam,” the letter adds. “Responsibility for maintenance of the dam belongs to the owners of the dam. Cherokee County has no authority nor responsibility to conduct any construction on or repairs to the Tanglewood Dam or any other private property.”
    Tanglewood Lake is a manmade reservoir about 9 acres in area and 15-20 feet deep, according to county mapping records and residents of the Tanglewood Forest subdivision. County records show the lake and other residual land from development was not sold as a property lot to homeowners. As a result, the lake technically remains owned by Tanglewood Forest Inc., which was formed in 1974 and today has a principal office mailing address in Coral Gables, Fla.
    Officials say the homeowners’ association that owned the residual land apparently no longer exists. Former members of that association are deceased, thereby obscuring the legalities surrounding ownership of the lake. However, from the perspective of state officials, anyone who owns property adjoining any part of the lake and dam are considered its owners.
    After a local citizen raised concerns about the dam’s structural integrity earlier this month, county officials asked a state engineer to conduct a visual inspection. During a meeting atop the dam on Jan. 3, the engineer said there are holes in the drainage pipe, and “there’s a significant amount of seepage at the bottom” of the dam.
    Concerns regarding seepage and the deteriorating drainage pipe were also highlighted in a 2009 incident report completed by a state dam safety engineer, which was obtained by the Cherokee Scout. The report states that “excessive seepage has been noted at this dam for some time,” and that “corrosion or breakage has occurred in the corrugated metal pipe spillway system.”
    “Failure of the dam does not appear to be imminent but is possible in the future,” the 2009 report states.
    After the inspection earlier this month, county officials sent a letter to some of the property owners downstream from the lake. The letter, dated Jan. 13, says, “The results of that inspection determined that the hazard potential of the dam is high.”
    County officials clarified that the designation of a “high” hazard potential only relates to the existence of property owners downstream from the lake who may be impacted in a worst-case scenario. The “high” hazard potential has nothing to do with the structural integrity of the dam, but rather relates to the impact that dam failure could have on life and property in the water’s path.
    The letter cautions residents in and around the inundation zone to monitor the situation, especially during heavy rain.
    “Be advised that there will be little or no time for a warning to residents in the inundation zone if a dam failure occurs,” the letter says.