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Ishpeming, MI - In the coming months, Upper Peninsula Power Company
(UPPCO) will work with local county Emergency Government Agencies to
ensure that residents and other users of the water below dams
understand the need to be prepared to evacuate the area in extreme
circumstances. UPPCO expects to complete updating its Emergency
Action Plans (EAPs) in 2011.
"We maintain our facilities according to Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission safety standards, however we are working through local
emergency management to better ensure that the public is prepared
for an unlikely, however potential, flood event" said Virgil
Schlorke, Manager - Regional Generation. "It's like being prepared
in the event of a tornado or other unlikely event."
Schlorke said that residents and other waterway users in river
basins or downstream of major dams should have an evacuation route
planned that avoids low lying areas, have a battery-operated weather
radio (which could provide advance warnings and updated river flow
information), flashlights, etc. in the event that power goes out.
Here are the details of the areas that could be impacted by a
sudden, unanticipated water release from UPPCO hydroelectric dams in
the Eastern U.P.:
Dead River
• Silver Lake - Marquette County. Properties adjacent to the
river/basin from the dam to approximately 7 miles downstream.
• Hoist Dam - Marquette County. Properties adjacent to the river
from the dam to Lake Superior.
• McClure Dam - Marquette County. Properties adjacent to the river
from the dam to Lake Superior.
Escanaba River
• Escanaba #4 (Boney Falls) - Delta County. Properties adjacent to
the river from the dam to about 10 miles downstream (includes the
Town of Cornell).
• Escanaba #3 - Delta County. Properties adjacent to the river from
the dam to Little Bay De Noc.
Middle Branch Ontonagon River
• Victoria - Ontonagon County. Properties adjacent to the river from
the dam to approximately 5 miles downstream.
• Bond Falls (Main) - Ontonagon County. Properties adjacent to the
river from the dam to approximately 12 miles downstream.
• Bond Falls (Control Dam) - Ontonagon County. Properties adjacent
to the river from the dam to approximately 8 miles downstream
(includes the Town of Paulding).
Sturgeon River
• Prickett - Baraga County. Properties within 1/4 mile of the river
from the dam to about 3 miles downstream (near Highway M-38). After
working with local emergency officials to refine its plans, UPPCO
will pass along that information to residents.
For More Information, Contact:
• Virgil Schlorke
Manager
Regional Generation
906-485-2465
• UPPCO Customer Service
800-562-7680
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