Two thousand flood victims across Midland, Gladwin and Saginaw counties will have their day in court as the class action and mass-tort lawsuit against the state of Michigan begins in January.
After days of heavy rainfall in May 2020, the Edenville and Sanford dams were breached. The dams' failure resulted in devastating flooding of the Tittabawasee River that damaged or destroyed around 2,500 homes and businesses.
Michigan Public reported when the waters receded, residents were left with around $175 million in flood damage.
Carl Hamann, a Sanford village commissioner said people are still struggling to rebuild five years later.
"I turned 65 and lost everything I owned," Hamann said. "It's been a struggle just to come back. I've rebuilt my house mostly [by] myself."
Hamann went on to say it "breaks your soul to know that they've [residents] been done wrong, and there's no compensation for it."
A 2022 report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined the breaches were foreseeable and preventable. The 500-page report concluded that Boyce Hydro, the dams' former owner, mismanaged the aging infrastructure.
Since Boyce Hydro was denied its claim of bankruptcy in Las Vegas court in 2024, residents focused their legal action on the state of Michigan, the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
"What we're claiming, and what I think the evidence will overwhelmingly prove in trial next month [January] is that the state of Michigan, in essence, took this land from all of our people, damaged their property, damaged their property values, and destroyed their ability to enjoy their land when they had jurisdiction over this dam," Attorney Ven Johnson explained. Johnson is one of three mass-tort attorneys representing a portion of the residents.
He said the state has done everything in its power to delay being held accountable. Three different judges have denied the state's attempts to get the case thrown out.
Michigan law grants the state special privileges that allow it to instantly appeal judicial decisions. He said the state has been intentionally using that provision to delay litigation for the past five years.
"It's a cold, hard slap in the face to these people, it has been for years now," Johnson said. "This is what big business and government do to slow things down so that they don't have to pay."
Attorneys for the victims allege the state has shared culpability for the dams' failure. The suit claims EGLE and the state failed to properly oversee Boyce Hydro and allowed the water levels of Wixom Lake to be above the legal standard.
"The state of Michigan was the entity that had jurisdiction over these dams for nearly two years before the dams' breach," Johnson said. "Everyone was telling the state of Michigan and anybody who would listen, these dams are going to break. And the state of Michigan did nothing."
According to the court order granting the victims class-action status, state agencies deny all of the suit's claims.
MLive reported in August that the Michigan Attorney General's office said the state did not bear the responsibility of the dams' upkeep.
Spokespeople for the state said denials are supported by the rulings of past lawsuits flood victims filed against Midland and Gladwin County, which found the counties were not liable in the dams' failure.
“The state’s position is based on facts and supported by evidence,” said Kimberly Bush, spokesperson for the attorney general’s office. “The state agencies’ enforcement action against the private dam owners uncovered a blatant disregard for safety. But the culpability for the catastrophe, as shown by the evidence, does not lie with the state agencies.”
Both the defendants and plaintiffs have filed several motions to limit certain evidence and testimony, including simulated recreation of the Edenville dam's failure. A judge denied every motion, ruling all relevant evidence had to be examined and evaluated by a jury.
January will kickstart the first half of the litigation process: determining the state's level of culpability. If the verdict condemns the state, the second half of the trial will determine what damages are awarded to the residents.
"I think this case is going to end up being kind of a really pivotal moment in our state's history," Johnson said. "Because if a government can do this to you and get away with it, I think we're in real trouble here."
The official trial date has yet to be determined.
