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Defendant Name: Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy, The Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Court: State of Michigan Court of Claims

Practice Area: Consumer Fraud

Status: Active
Date Filed: 05/22/2020

Case Documents

Boyce Notice of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Midland Dam Court of Appeals Opinion
05/12/25 Summary Disposition Order
10/01/25 Order Denying Summary Disposition
05/12/25 Hearing Transcript
07/03/25 Class Certification Order
03/22/24 Consolidated Class Action Complaint

Case Overview

Case update:

After a number of lengthy appeals, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on September 7, 2023 that the State of Michigan is not immune from prosecution for the May 2020 failure of the Edenville and Sandford dams. On March 22, 2024, Plaintiffs filed their Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint. Since that time, Plaintiffs have conducted extensive discovery, including review of more than 30,000 documents produced by the State Defendants, issuing subpoenas to third parties, and deposing critical witnesses and experts.

In January 2025, Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Disposition, also known as a Motion for Summary Judgment. The State Defendants argued that there were no issues of material fact and therefore the Judge should dismiss the case based on the law and the facts already established. Following briefing and argument on the motion, the Court of Claims denied the State Defendants’ Motion for Summary Disposition on May 12, 2025.

Again, in June 2025, the Defendants filed an additional Motion for Summary Disposition based on a similar legal and factual theory. Following briefing and argument on the motion, the Court of Claims denied the State Defendants’ Motion for Summary Disposition on October 1, 2025.

Class certification:

On July 3, 2025, the Court entered an order granting the Parties’ stipulation for Issue Class Certification. This means that the State Defendants agreed to certify classes of property owners impacted by the Edenville Dam failure. For purposes of defining class membership, Class Plaintiffs have defined the area allegedly impacted by the failure of the Edenville and Sanford Dams as the “Impacted Zone,” which constitutes property within the Four Lakes Special Assessment District or properties identified by Plaintiffs’ experts as impacted by the dam failures.

The Classes are defined as:

Real Property Class: All persons or entities who owned real property in the Impacted Zone.

Personal Property Class: All persons or entities who owned or leased real property in the Impacted Zone.

Business Class: All persons or entities who owned a business in the Impacted Zone.

Beginning on October 2, 2025, notice was mailed to all class members whose address was available. More information about Class Certification, Class membership, and the case is available here:

https://www.edenvilledamfailure.com/

Trial:

This case is currently set for trial to begin on January 12, 2026. The trial will be limited to a determination of the State Defendants’ liability. The amount of damages will be determined later. We anticipate that the trial will be livestreamed. More information will be made available here closer to trial.

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FeganScott filed a national class-action suit on behalf of a group of residents and business owners against the operators of the Edenville, Sanford and Secord Dams and three Michigan state agencies for what is described as a cataclysmic set of decisions that led to the breach of the Sanford and Secord dams and the collapse of the Edenville dam in May 2020, causing homes and businesses to be destroyed.

The suit claimed dam owner Boyce Hydro, along with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes Energy and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, failed to operate, fix, or repair the dams in accordance with the established standard of care, resulting in catastrophic injury and damage to residents and their properties.

In July 2020, the dam owners, Boyce Hydro Power, LLC and Boyce Hydro, LLC filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. As a result, all pending cases against the dam owners were ultimately dismissed. 

The Boyce entities set aside a fund to pay claims on behalf of home and landowners injured by the dam failures, and for the costs of administering the fund. Ultimately, the fund was very small in comparison to the many debts and claims against the Boyce entities. The Liquidating Trustee, overseen by the bankruptcy court, established and oversaw a process by which claims were evaluated and compensated. The Bankruptcy is now closed. 

State of Michigan Litigation

FeganScott also filed a separate case against the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes Energy and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in the Court of Claims on August 11, 2020.

Noted in published accounts, the dams’ breach began on May 18 as flood water rose after recent rainfall, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. The lawsuit alleges that the state departments are at fault for the dams’ failure, having ignored warnings from federal regulators and neglected blatant, high-risk issues.

According to the complaint, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) repeatedly warned the operators of the dangers of the 95-year old Edenville Dam, including the risk of catastrophic erosion.

In 2018, the Edenville Dam operator’s license was revoked for failure to address safety issues, putting the dams under the oversight of the state departments.

Since the case was filed, the state has argued that it should be immune from the suit. On May 21, 2021, the Court of Claims held that the state of Michigan was not immune from prosecution. On September 7, 2023, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the state is not immune from prosecution in this matter.

Residents and business owners who are interested in learning more about this class-action suit are urged to send their contact information to dambreach@feganscott.com.