WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) pressed Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on the status of repairs to the Mosul Dam in northern Iraq. The dam, which is at a high risk of catastrophic breach, is currently scheduled to be repaired this year by an Italian contractor. According to a recent U.S. Embassy Fact Sheet, its collapse could occur with little to no warning and unleash a tidal wave that could result in the deaths of an estimated half million people, displace many more, and undercut progress made by the Iraqi government towards stability over the past two years.

“Concern about the Mosul Dam – are you satisfied that the Italian contractor and the arrangement that’s been made by the government in Iraq is sufficient and is going to be timely?” asked Senator King. “It would be an absolute catastrophe if that dam went out.”

Secretary Carter replied that he does believe the current contractor is the appropriate team to do the work shoring up the dam, agreed with Senator King that the timing of the dam repair is critical, and emphasized that the repairs should be done “as soon as possible”  to prevent failures in the dam.

Senator King’s comments follow a bipartisan letter that he led with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to spearhead efforts to repair the dam. In the letter, Senator King and his colleagues urged the State Department to use all measures available to the U.S. government to prevent a breach of the dam, to work with the Iraqi government to expedite its repairs, and to also prepare contingency plans for affected Iraqi people if a breach were to occur. To read Senator King’s letter to the State Department, click HERE.

###