A federal judge has found Edenville Dam’s former owner liable for almost $120 million in damages to Michigan’s natural resources, MLive.com reported. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney on Monday issued a default judgment against Lee Mueller, finding the bankrupt Nevada businessman liable for $119,825,000 in damages to fisheries and aquatic mussels. Maloney said that Mueller’s company, Edenville Hydro Property LLC, violated five parts of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Protection Act (NREPA) in a ruling that, absent an appeal, concludes the lawsuit filed against Mueller and his company, Boyce Hydro, by the state in 2020. According to the order, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) estimated that the 2020 Edenville Dam collapse and resulting flood caused more than $21 million in damage to state fisheries, and at least $90 million in damage to an ecosystem for freshwater mussels. The remaining $8.8 million stems from state law violations.
