Crumbling infrastructure: 99-year-old dam may collapse from winter rains and spill arsenic-contaminated tailings

CBS San Francisco
Wed, 04 Nov 2015 04:27 UTC

© City of Jackson

The Eastwood Multiple Arch Dam in Jackson, Calif. following tree trimming operations in August 2015.

State officials are warning that a 99-year-old dam in Northern California is at risk of collapsing if a big rainstorm comes through.

The concrete Eastwood Multiple Arch Dam in Jackson was built in 1916 and holds back large quantities of arsenic-contaminated tailings left over from gold mining.

In June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that the dam was structurally unsound.

California Department of Toxic Substance Control officials say they recently began a $1 million emergency repair operation that is expected to be completed this month.

The city of Jackson says the National Weather Service will issue a warning if rainfall amounts reach certain levels that could exacerbate the dam's structural problems.

Comment: How long will these repairs hold, and how many other such structurally unsound dams exist that are not being repaired? Questions that almost seem like wasted breathe when the media focuses on irrelevant nonsense like how Russia could 'annihilate' US Army.