Partial Dam Break In New London County Leads To Wider Concerns

NORWICH, CT — After a partial break of the Fitchville Pond Dam, non-profit organization Save the Sound is raising the alarm about Connecticut's "aging" and "unsafe" dams.

The Fitchville Pond Dam break resulted in mandatory evacuations for Bozrah and Norwich residents in the area of the Yantic River. Kelly Middle School was opened as a shelter.

The evacuation order went into effect Wednesday and was lifted in the afternoon, according to the Norwich Fire Department and Emergency Management. Officials said the order was lifted as "conditions at the dam on the Yantic River have stabilized and the water continues to recede."

See related: Dam Break Leads To Flash Flood Warning In New London County

Norwich Public Utilities shut down a facility due to the flooding, leaving 5,000 customers in the dark.

Save the Sound said the state's dams "have outlived their original purpose."

"The Fitchville Pond Dam is classified as a high-hazard dam," the organization said in a statement, "meaning that according to Connecticut’s Dam Safety Division the dam’s failure 'would cause probable loss of life; major damage to habitable structures, residences, hospitals, convalescent homes, schools, etc.; damage to main highways; or great economic loss.'”

The organization said that with over 5,000 dams in Connecticut, the state needs to protect people who live nearby and remove high-risk dams that are no longer necessary.

“We’re seeing today the very real human cost of failure to maintain our dams,” Laura Wildman, vice president for ecological restoration at Save the Sound, said in a statement. “Connecticut Dam Safety Division requires that dam owners inspect their dams every two years and maintain high-hazard dams in good condition in order to protect the public from the type of disaster now underway on the Yantic River. However, with limited enforcement capabilities, these state regulations alone have not been enough to ensure that dams in Connecticut are being adequately maintained. Shockingly, even when a high-hazard dam is in poor condition and has a high potential to breach, there are no federal or state laws that require the population within the dam breach inundation zone downstream to be notified. When dams breach the downstream families and businesses are therefore taken by surprise, putting them at serious risk."