Details about this story

• Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Date: January 21, 2006
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Jaimi Dowdell , Todd C. Frankel , Eric Hand , Ken Leiser
• Topics: Environment , Disasters
• Data Types: Federal Data
• Description/Excerpt: With one of the weakest dam safety laws in the country, Missouri does not inspect more than two-thirds of the dams in the state that pose a threat to downstream homes, campgrounds or industrial buildings. There are more than 1,000 such dams, like the David R. Wilson Dam, that get no attention from regulators, according to the state's dam database. Missouri law allows them to escape inspection because they are under 35 feet tall or because owners have obtained exemptions for agricultural uses. The Post-Dispatch found problems that include: Tall trees, some as high as 40 feet, sprouting from dam faces - a sign that active root systems are piercing the dams. Swamp grasses growing in oily pools just downstream of the dams, evidence that water is seeping through. Heavily eroded spillways cluttered with debris.