(WXYZ) — A federal court in western Michigan has awarded the state of Michigan more than $119 million in a judgment against the owner of the Edenville dam, which collapsed in 2020.
“The dam’s ownership completely disregarded imminent threats to the safety and integrity of the dam, and as the State clearly demonstrated before the Court, Lee Meuller and his business were responsible for the disaster that struck Edenville and other area communities,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who brought the case on behalf of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “This nearly $120 million judgement is important, both as a measure of accountability to the community Mueller devastated and as a deterrent to other owners of critical infrastructure.”
The judgment against Lee Mueller ends the civil case against Mueller, whose companies owned and operated the dam which failed in May 2020 sending a surge of water downstream, flooding several nearby communities.
According to Nessel's office, the 'court ruled in February that Mueller himself was responsible for the failure, before ruling in October that his company, Boyce Hydro, was also responsible. In that ruling, the Court held the State had 'brought sufficient evidence to show that Defendants knew of its dam’s vulnerability and that Defendants did not make EGLE aware of that vulnerability. Defendants do not dispute either assertion'."
