Sinkhole develops under dam in US

*update*

Fissures ln Earth Now Suspected Under Dam

This is the latest update as of four days ago. It's now suspected that fissures under the dam are the underlying cause of seepage. Although this is the suspected cause, a possible long term project is likely to take place.

Officials have yet to determine if this will affect the filling of the reservoir next year to normal operating levels.

Source

Jan 14, 2015 (emphasis added): Water is still seeping at Boone Dam and the cause has yet to be determined… Boone Dam has two portions, a concrete portion [and] an earthen embankment. “The leak is actually in the embankment, that’s where all the focus is,” Travis Brickey, a spokesman for TVA, said Monday… TVA is currently drilling around the area where the units discharge water… Though there is no clear timeline on how long the investigation will take, Brickey said that it’s safe to say that there will be a project at the dam. But he’s not sure… how long the project will last or how it will impact the reservoir.

I'm not a geologist or acquainted with terminologies, but is a fissure under a dam that bad?

Double post

*UPDATE*

The sinkhole was discovered on October 20 and was immediately plugged. However, some days later, it was discovered that seepage at the toe of the dam was ongoing.

To combat the issue, dam officials began lowering the levels of water to it's winter stage earlier than usual. Water levels at the dam are expected to be at winter levels by November 10."

*CURRENTLY*

The situation at Boone dam has been slowly deteriorating. Officials have been working vigorously in an attempt to figure out how to stop the ongoing seepage, which at this time is carrying sentiment through the earth filled portion of the dam because the sinkhole has sunk further.

Source

 Apr 6, 2015: In February… TVA officials met privately with Mayor Dennis Phillips and [an official] at Eastman Chemical Co. – to discuss the seepage… “TVA’s intent is to protect everything downstream“… Phillips said. “They didn’t get into any specifics onhouses or areas involved. It’s just naturally understood that if something happened to the dam, it would be a major problem“… 

a reply to: Daedal

I am not a geologist either, but it does not sound good from your link.

Apr 28, 2015 (emphasis added): [T]he head of the nation’s largest public utility… TVA President Bill Johnson toured Boone Dam [and] said water was moving through the base of the earth filled portion of the dam carrying sediment… “we do have water coming through the dam because the sinkhole has sunk further,” Johnson said pointing to a section of caved-in parking lot at the base of Boone Dam… Johnson said it is essential for TVA to figure out how to stop the flow of water through the base… because continued flow of sediment-laden lake water could destabilize the dam.

and...this has been going on since 1980 according to this link of a newspaper article from March 21, 1980.

Star News
is this the same dam?

Well....they certainly have an issue on their hands. I will go with the nature always wins argument....for evidence:

I have kept subscribed to this thread, wondering if anything else would pop up in the news about it.

Thank you for the update.

There are so many of these little situations going on, ya just can't keep up with all of them.

If I was one of the people living below this dam. I would be very concerned.

Does Home Owners insurance cover something like this?

Thanks for the update!
I had forgotten all about this!

TVA INFO

Just thought I'd add this from the TVA site