From left: Polk County Commission Chairman Myron Yoder, DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson, DEMLR Director Toby Vinson, Polk County Emergency Management Director Bobby Arledge and Polk County Manager Marche Pittman pose in front of the Turner Shoals Dam, which received $1.3 million to repair damage from Hurricane Helene.
NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Reid Wilson traveled to Turner Shoals Dam in Polk County today to announce the Department’s second round of Dam Safety grants totaling more than $3.4 million to address at-risk dams that were damaged by Hurricane Helene. DEQ’s Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) awarded $6.6 million earlier this year to address six high-hazard dams that were also damaged during Hurricane Helene.
DEMLR today announced an award to Turner Shoals Dam in Mill Spring for more than $1.3 million to repair the access road and the eroded areas around the hydroelectric station, ensuring the stability of the dam during future storm events. DEMLR also awarded more than $1.2 million to Beech Lake Dam near Hendersonville and more than $840,000 to Ashe Lake Dam northeast of Boone. DEMLR categorizes these dams as high hazard, meaning failure would likely result in loss of life or significant damage to homes, businesses, major roads or utilities downstream.
“Dam safety is a matter of life and death,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “Today’s DEQ grants to repair three dams damaged by Helene will help ensure that people and property are protected during future floods.”
Following Hurricane Helene, DEMLR staff inspected more than 400 dams across mountain communities, identifying approximately 40 damaged dams, 36 of which were classified as high hazard. The damage ranged from minor erosion to full failure caused by flood waters overflowing the dams.