Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/813600
ByEllenKnickmeyer and Michael R. Blood TheAssociatedPress OROVILLE Late in the af- ternoon of Feb. 12, Sheriff KoryHoneawasattheemer- gency operations center for the tallest dam in America whenheoverheardsomeone say something that stopped him in his tracks: "This is not good." Over six straight days, the operators of the Oro- ville Dam had said there was no immediate danger after water surging down the main spillway gouged a hole the size of a football field in the concrete chute. But now suddenly they re- alized that the dam's emer- gency backup spillway — es- sentially an unpaved hillside — was falling apart, too, and could unleash a deadly tor- rent of water. Honea reacted by order- ing the immediate evacua- tion of nearly 200,000 peo- ple downstream. In the end, after frantic action by the dam's keepers, catastrophe was averted. But an Associated Press ex- amination of state and fed- eral documents, emails ob- tained under public records requests and numerous in- terviews reveal a sequence of questionable decisions and missteps, some of them made years ago, some of them in the middle of the crisis. Among other things, the dam's federal and state over- seers overestimated the du- rability of the two spillways. And in public statements during the emergency, they failed to acknowledge — or perhaps recognize — that while they were busy deal- ingwithonecrisis,theywere creating a possible new one. During the darkest hours of the emergency, the fear was that if the hillside col- lapsed, "it was not whether people would die, but how many would die," Honea re- called. State water officials have defended their handling of the crisis at the 770-foot- high (235-meter) dam in the Sierra Nevada foothills 150 miles (241kilometers)north- east of San Francisco, saying itwasmanagedaseffectively as possible under extraordi- nary circumstances, includ- ing one of the wettest win- ters on record. William Croyle, acting head of the California De- partment of Water Re- sources, likened the spill- way failures to a car get- ting a flat tire or running out of oil. "This happened. Stuff happens," he said last month. The crisis began Feb. 7 withthe rupture in themain spillway. Dam managers re- sponded by obtaining an uncommon exemption from theArmyCorpsofEngineers to bypass a rule that would have required them to re- lease huge amounts of water from the rapidly filling dam. Water releases down the main spillway were scaled back drastically, sometimes to zero. Engineers did this be- cause they wanted to in- spect the hole, study how muchbiggeritmightgetand think of a way to keep the spillwayfromcrumblingfur- ther, state officials said. Allthewhile,thereservoir behind the dam kept rising, reaching the highest level in the structure's history, be- cause of one of the biggest storms in two decades. Dammanagersrepeatedly assured the public there was "no imminent threat." Just 12 hours before water be- gan running down the hill- side on Feb. 11, they told Ho- nea in an email that the wa- terreleases,thoughreduced, "will still keep the lake from spilling over the emergency ... spillway." Not long after the wa- ter started going down that spillway, it began ripping away the hillside. That trig- geredthesheriff'sevacuation order, which was quickly en- dorsed by the dam's manag- ers, who said the emergency spillway could fail within an hour. "They were futzing around with the main ser- vice spillway that had bro- ken.Theyturnedofftheflow and were inspecting it and testing it," said Ron Stork, senior policy adviser with Friends of the River, an en- vironmental group. "And all of the time the reservoir was filling." "And then it failed," Stork said of the emergency spill- way. "And you know, they al- most lost control." It was the first time in the history of the 50-year- old dam that the emergency spillway was used, but not the first hint it might be in- adequate. "There's always been an understanding that, man, you don't want to use that emergency spillway, be- cause when you do, it's go- ing to be a mess," said Jerry Antonetti, aretiredengineer who was a construction in- spector for one of the dam's power plants when the dam was built in the 1960s. Friends of the River and other environmental groups had argued as far back as 2005 that the earthen spill- way needed to be reinforced with concrete. The Depart- ment of Water Resources andlocalwateragenciessaid that was unnecessary. In 2014, the Federal En- ergy Regulatory Commis- sion not only affirmed the safety of both spillways but also said there was no point instudyingordiscussingthe possibility that either could fail, state water officials told the AP. Ultimately, the spillways broke apart while handling just a fraction of the water they were designed to carry. As families from the Gold Rush-era towns below the dam fled their homes, Oro- ville Dam's managers finally ramped up water releases down the damaged main spillway, bringing the reser- voir back down to safer lev- els. The main spillway kept eroding but handled the flow. Local officials down- stream said the dam's op- erators failed to keep them fully informed as the emer- gency unfolded. On Feb. 7, when word started spreading that a big hole had opened in the main spillway, Honea's dis- patchers called state wa- ter officials to inquire, and were told that the state was doing only "routine mainte- nance inspections," accord- ing to the sheriff. In an email a day before the evacuation, Mark So- rensen, the city adminis- trator of the small town of Biggs, about 25 miles from the dam, told the state agencythatthestate"earned a grade of F on its ability to timely and completely com- municate during this inci- dent." State officials are ex- panding efforts to inform thepublic,butsaytherehave been dozens of news brief- ings,updatesandadvisories. TALLEST DAM IN AMERICA Managers of damaged dam made series of errors RICHPEDRONCELLI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Water runs down Oroville Dam's crippled spillway in Oroville. Over six days, operators struggled to figure out their next move a er raging floodwaters gouged a hole the size of a football field in the dam's main water-release spillway. By Scott Smith and Sophia Bollag The Associated Press FRESNO The gunman suspected of killing three white men in a racially charged attack in Fresno was proud of what he had accomplished and laughed many times as he explained his actions in interviews with police, authorities said Wednesday. After Kori Ali Muham- mad learned that he was wanted for the death of a security guard last week, he wanted to take out as many other white men as possi- ble,FresnoPoliceChiefJerry Dyer said. "He was going to kill as many white males as pos- sible and that's what he set out to do that day. He said he did not like white men and said white people were responsible for keeping black people down," Dyer said. Muham- mad "is not a terrorist but he is a racist," Dyer said. The suspect, who is black, was candid in explaining his actions from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, when he methodically shot and killed three white men on the same block, the po- lice chief said. He told police that the security guard had disre- spected him during an ear- lier altercation at a Motel 6. Muhammad hid out in a ravine and practiced voo- doo rituals after the motel slaying. He also told inves- tigators he is Muslim, but he prays to seven different gods and has not been to a mosque in 25 years. On Tuesday, after he learned he was wanted for the guard's death, he set out to kill more people, Dyer said. He noticed a white man in a utility truck and fired into the truck, killing Zack- ary Randalls. He also shot Mark Gassett on a sidewalk, pumping two more rounds into him as the man lay on the ground. Finally, he fired in the direction of a bus stop wherehespottedthreewhite males. They scattered, and Mu- hammad picked the one who appeared heavier, Da- vid Jackson. "That was going to be his target, and he caught up with him and he fired two rounds into this indi- vidual," Dyer said. Dyer said Muhammad showed no remorse in in- terviews and laughed many times. Randalls was the first to die when Muhammad walked up to a Pacific Gas & Electric truck and fired into the passenger seat. The driver sped to the police de- partment for help, but Ran- dalls could not be saved. Friend Eddie Valencia said Randalls was excited to startworkasacustomer-ser- vice representative and was doing a ride-along Tuesday. He described the 34-year- old as an open-minded per- son with a big heart. He said his friend, who left behind two preschool- ers and a wife in Clovis, would not want people to feel anger toward the shooter. "He wouldn't want peo- ple to be divided by this," Valencia said. "There were no boundaries with race, religions, beliefs, with any- thing. If you were a good person and basically could have a good conversation, he would call you a friend. He was a stand-up guy." The three men killed Tuesday had no known con- nection to each other or to the shooter, who is expected to be arraigned Friday. Gassett, 37, of Fresno, had just picked up groceries at a Catholic Charities building when he was shot. His body was draped in a blanket on the sidewalk leading to Ste- phen Hughes' home. RACIALLY CHARGED ATTACK Po li ce s ay F re sn o ki ll er s ho we d no r emo rs e in i nt er vi ew s Muhammad InPrintEveryTuesday-Thursday-Saturday Online:Publishes24/7 www.redbluffdailynews.com Threeadditionalonline locations at no extra cost! Print and On-Line HOMESERVICESDIRECTORY Full Size $ 117 .50 Per Month No early cancellation, non-refundable TWOSIZESTOCHOOSEFROM Half Size $ 70 .00 Per Month Construction Burrows Construction Remodel, New Additions, Siding Repair and Replacement, Water and Dryrot New Construction Foundation to Finish Ph:(530) 515-9779 Residential•Commerical PATIOS•DECKS REFRENCES Lic#824770 Roofing Call for Estimates! 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