Avista: No impact to customers is expected following the Post Falls Dam incident

POST FALLS – Customers along the Spokane River are not expected to be impacted following a crane accident at Post Falls Dam, according to a media release sent out by Avista.

According to Avista, an incident involving a crane failure at the Post Falls North Channel Dam spillway was reported this morning. A contractor employee was injured and taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Avista officials said: “At this time, the crane failure does not appear to have caused any significant damage to the dam structure or impact on power generation at the power plant.”

After the site was made safe, operators and dam safety engineers conducted an immediate inspection and determined there was no immediate threat to the spillway gates or the dam's concrete structure.

Avista maintains control of all water flows at the dam.

Falls Park and the pier were temporarily closed by law enforcement.

Avista will work with the contractor to evaluate the safe removal of the crane.