EPD Gives City of Cumming, Family 60 Days To Fix Dam Breach

More than three months after a dam breached in Cumming, the state of Georgia has stepped in to require a resolution for a Lake Lanier cove now clouded with sediment. 

The Lake Alice Dam—between Market Place to the west, Sanders Road to the east, Buford Dam Road to the south and Mary Alice Park Road to the north—broke the morning of May 19, and Lake Alice flooded into Lake Lanier, according to the Lake Alice Dam Breach Facebook page.

In June, Forsyth County was still making repairs to a portion of Sanders Road, which washed out as a result of the breach. After storms dumped more than 4 inches of rain, not only water, but also mud seeped through the dam, following the path of a creek and flowing into the cove on Lake Lanier, where about 50 homeowners reported the water turned orange, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

More than a month after the breach, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Protection Division facilitated the signing of a consent order by the city of Cumming, which owns a 50-foot portion of Sanders Road damaged in the flood, and the Mashburn family, which owns the Lake Alice Dam, NorthFulton.com reported. The parties agreed to work together to stabilize the area, stemming the tide of sediment flowing into Lake Lanier. 

But that hasn't happened, according to the EPD.

Tuesday it issued an administrative order, which requires Cumming and the family fix the problem in 60 days. If it doesn't happen, the state would ask a Forsyth County judge to order the parties to comply, and if they don't, the parties could be held in contempt, forsythnews.com reports. 

Forsyth County, which is not a party to either order, has spent nearly $15,700 in road repairs, while the city of Cumming has twice hydroseeded the soil along the 7-acre cove and the Mashburn family has installed a turbidity curtain, a barrier to keep sediment from spreading into the water, according to NorthFulton.com.

Residents want to know when the cove will be restored to its previous state, according to forsythnews.com. They say it's losing depth as the sediment settles.

Both the city of Cumming and the Mashburns say they want a quick resolution.

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• Forsyth Closes Part of Sanders Road