Owners of failed rural Michigan dam bought it as a tax shelter, ignored needed fixes to save money - Entrepreneur Generations

An explosive new report underlines the regulatory gaps with private dams, which make up about 64 percent of the nation's 91,000 dams.

Last week, the 95-year-old Edenville Dam in rural Michigan failed after heavy rains, forcing thousands of residents downstream to evacuate. The disaster put a spotlight on the nation's crumbling dam system, especially the fact that it's more difficult for regulators to force private dam owners to make needed repairs.

The Edenville Dam's owners, it turns out, had bought the dam and three others nearby in 2006 as a tax shelter, then fought with regulators for years to avoid having to pay for repairs, taxes, or upgrades to make the dam safer, Mike Wilkinson, Kelly House and Riley Beggin report for Bridge, a nonpartisan, nonprofit Michigan newsroom.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/3dg4SLW Owners of failed rural Michigan dam bought it as a tax shelter, ignored needed fixes to save money - Entrepreneur Generations

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