Feds order independent review of Oroville Dam spillway problems | The Sacramento Bee

The federal agency that issued the license for the troubled Oroville Dam on Monday ordered state officials to convene an independent panel of five experts to assess the damaged dam and issue recommendations.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also ordered the Department of Water Resources, which manages the dam, to perform a “forensic analysis aimed at determining the cause” of the failures in both the main spillway that fractured on Tuesday.

To ensure objectivity, “the forensic analysis must be performed by a fully independent third party with no previous involvement in assessing the spillway structure at this project,” the letter reads.

The state is already taking similar actions, said Nancy Vogel, a spokeswoman for the California Natural Resources Agency.

 

Sign up

Receive Breaking News alerts in your e-mail inbox as soon as the news happens. Sign up here. Sign up here.