The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) has absolutely anesthetized a resolution acknowledging the state’s Environmental Review Commission (ERC) abstraction to appraise the accoutrement of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project relicensing on issues basic to North Carolina’s approaching apple-pie baptize supply. The resolution urges the ERC to abstraction all accessible options to the State of North Carolina, including the anamnesis accoutrement beneath federal law, as it reviews the impacts on the State if Alcoa’s appliance for a new 50-year authorization for breeding hydroelectric ability on the Yadkin River, aswell accepted as the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, is accepted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The resolution was adopted at the 101st NCACC Annual Conference in New Bern, N.C. on August 22. In July, both the General Assembly and Governor Mike Easley answerable the ERC with the assignment of belief and developing proposals in affiliation with the federal relicensing proceeding, which will administer if Alcoa receives an absolute authorization for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project amid in Central North Carolina. At pale is an estimated $45 actor in anniversary electric ability acquirement and baptize rights that Alcoa’s opponents above the accompaniment accept should be accountable to the ascendancy for the people, not for the account of a clandestine bunch corporation. The baptize rights to accomplish electricity over the next 50 years are conservatively admired in balance of $10 billion.
Over the endure six months, resolutions opposing Alcoa’s operation of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project accept been active by Davidson, Randolph, Iredell, Anson, Cabarrus and Union County Boards of Commissioners, and the Centralina Council of Governments. The Yadkin Hydroelectric Project has four hydroelectric stations, dams and reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River, one of the longest rivers in North Carolina and one of its greatest accustomed resources. The four baptize reservoirs are High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls. The Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed as a accomplished includes 21 counties and contains 93 accompaniment municipalities.
Alcoa’s 1958 FERC authorization asleep on April 30, 2008. Instead of acceding Alcoa addition 50-year license, FERC absitively alone to acquiesce the association a one-year extension. The ERC is accepted to affair its final address by Feb. 1, 2009.
The NCACC was accustomed for the advancement of canton government in North Carolina and all 100 counties are represented by the organization. The NCACC serves as the counties’ advocate afore the executive, aldermanic and administrative branches of accompaniment government. The abounding argument of the resolution adopted by the NCACC is as follows:
WHEREAS, the North Carolina General Assembly through Senate Bill 1046 has directed the Environmental Review Commission to abstraction the impacts on the State of North Carolina of the abeyant arising of a fifty-year authorization by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the operation of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project by Alcoa; and
WHEREAS, abounding of the Counties amid aural the Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed accept requested the State of North Carolina to arbitrate in the advancing licensing action afore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in action to a fifty-year authorization accepting accepted to Alcoa; and
WHEREAS, fifty years ago, the federal government accustomed Alcoa to use the accessible baptize to accomplish electricity and actualize jobs but now, Alcoa has about abolished as a above employer and provider of jobs, but wants to abide to acquire the allowances of the baptize that accurately belongs to the people; and
WHEREAS, if the federal government renews Alcoa’s license, it will acquiesce Alcoa to accomplish ability not for job conception but to be awash in the accessible electricity bazaar for a abundant profit; and
WHEREAS, essentially, if Alcoa obtains the authorization renewal, a accessible river will be acclimated for the next fifty years alone to aerate Alcoa’s profits; and
WHEREAS, in accession to the bread-and-butter issues, Stanly County is abnormally anxious about the history of ecology contagion acquired by Alcoa’s operations in Badin;
WHEREAS, all 100 Counties in North Carolina accept accomplished aboriginal duke the impacts of a aridity and accustomed the connected severity of North Carolina’s drought, our accompaniment and bounded leaders have to accept the adeptness to accomplish appropriate and event-specific decisions about our baptize supply; and
WHEREAS, if Alcoa is accepted addition fifty-year license, and the State of North Carolina capital to accomplish reasonable use of a backlog accountant to Alcoa for the purpose of attention the accessible baptize supply, the State could be appropriate to seek permission from Alcoa or some added adopted or calm article that may access Alcoa’s license; and
WHEREAS, the Counties amid aural the Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed are faced with the individual a lot of important affair they accept accepted with attention to their ecology and bread-and-butter future, the brand of which we will not see for addition generation; and
WHEREAS, the Counties amid aural the Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed needs our abutment in adjustment to ensure a affluent and added chiefly advantageous approaching for their accouchement and those yet to come;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners urges the Environmental Review Commission to abstraction all accessible options to the State of North Carolina, including the anamnesis accoutrement beneath federal law, if it reviews: (1) the socioeconomic impacts of Alcoa's accommodation to abandon its job-producing accomplishment activities at its Badin ability that relied on the use of low amount ability from the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project; (2) the affirmation of an adequate, apple-pie approaching baptize accumulation for the region; and (3) the allocation of baptize for non ability uses from the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.
Quotes:
“It is a able account for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners to accomplish in auspicious the accompaniment to appraise all accessible options accompanying to the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project relicensing and appearance account for our baptize rights and accessible resources,” said Stanly County Manager Jerry Myers. “We are actual apprenticed of this resolution, and we achievement that associates of the Environmental Review Commission abstraction how all counties in the watershed are and will be abnormally afflicted on abounding levels by this relicensing if Alcoa retains its cartel on ability from the Yadkin River.”
Related Links:
www.ncacc.org
www.ncwaterrights.com
www.mmimarketing.com/blog/?c=Yadkin-Hydroelectric-Project
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization asleep in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
Showing posts with label Yadkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yadkin. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
Stanly County Board Member Lindsey Dunevant Initiates Monthly Discussions Of Yadkin Project
Lindsey Dunevant, a affiliate of both the Stanly County Board of Commissioners and the N.C. Water Rights Committee, has accomplished a account affairs on radio base 1010 AM WSPC to altercate the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, its aftereffect on Stanly’s baptize assets and added accompanying topics. The base arrive Dunevant as able-bodied as Gene Ellis, licensing and acreage administrator with Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (“Alcoa”), to bear abstracted arguments apropos the issues.
In his aboriginal presentation, Dunevant bidding how he and leaders above the accompaniment favor federal anamnesis with consecutive alteration to the accompaniment of North Carolina for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Dunevant argues that because Alcoa has absolute hydroelectric operations on the high Yadkin – and will advance that absolute cachet for addition 50 years if FERC grants a authorization – it will acquiesce Alcoa an arbitrary cartel of North Carolina baptize rights for generations. This blazon of monopoly, according to Dunevant, would acquiesce Alcoa to accomplishment one of the state’s better accustomed assets and acquiesce the bunch association to accomplish ample profits affairs electricity alfresco the state. Another above affair echoed by Dunevant and Alcoa opponents is that Alcoa has bootless to abode ecology apropos from its operations in Stanly County.
Dunevant’s comments aboriginal aired on the Sept. 4 newscasts for WSPC and its sister base WZKY. They can be begin on the WSPC Web website here: www.1010wspc.com/WSPCWZKYLocalNews.htm. Listeners can acquaintance WSPC to accommodate their acknowledgment to the comments. Dunevant’s statements will be actualization already a ages over WSPC for the accountable future.
Regarding the Project’s accepted status, the state’s Environmental Review Commission (ERC) will abstraction and advance proposals this abatement in affiliation with the federal relicensing proceeding, which will administer if Alcoa receives an absolute authorization for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, and address them by Feb. 1, 2009. At pale is an estimated $45 actor in anniversary electric ability acquirement and baptize rights that Alcoa’s opponents above the accompaniment accept should be accountable to the ascendancy for the people, not for the account of a clandestine bunch corporation. The baptize rights to accomplish electricity over the next 50 years are conservatively admired in balance of $10 billion.
The Yadkin Hydroelectric Project has four hydroelectric stations, dams and reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River, one of the longest rivers in North Carolina and one of its greatest accustomed resources. The four baptize reservoirs are High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls. The Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed as a accomplished includes 21 counties and contains 93 accompaniment municipalities.
Quotes:
“I am actual admiring that our bounded radio base believes the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project and added water-related issues are so important that they arete several account of its airtime for both abandon to present their beliefs,” said Dunevant. “I appetite anyone with any absorption in the Yadkin River or Stanly County to crop time and accept to WSPC or its Web website to apprehend what we accept to say and why it is so important that we act now to bottle our accustomed assets and achieve our state’s baptize rights.”
Related Links:
www.1010wspc.com
www.ncwaterrights.com
www.mmimarketing.com/blog/?c=Yadkin-Hydroelectric-Project
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization asleep in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
About the N.C. Water Rights Committee:
The N.C. Water Rights Committee is a affiliation of North Carolina businesses and anxious citizens who accept abutting this state-wide accomplishment to acquaint citizens of the analytical issues and decisions apropos baptize rights that affect all North Carolinians now and for abounding decades to come. For added information, appointment www.ncwaterrights.org.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
In his aboriginal presentation, Dunevant bidding how he and leaders above the accompaniment favor federal anamnesis with consecutive alteration to the accompaniment of North Carolina for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Dunevant argues that because Alcoa has absolute hydroelectric operations on the high Yadkin – and will advance that absolute cachet for addition 50 years if FERC grants a authorization – it will acquiesce Alcoa an arbitrary cartel of North Carolina baptize rights for generations. This blazon of monopoly, according to Dunevant, would acquiesce Alcoa to accomplishment one of the state’s better accustomed assets and acquiesce the bunch association to accomplish ample profits affairs electricity alfresco the state. Another above affair echoed by Dunevant and Alcoa opponents is that Alcoa has bootless to abode ecology apropos from its operations in Stanly County.
Dunevant’s comments aboriginal aired on the Sept. 4 newscasts for WSPC and its sister base WZKY. They can be begin on the WSPC Web website here: www.1010wspc.com/WSPCWZKYLocalNews.htm. Listeners can acquaintance WSPC to accommodate their acknowledgment to the comments. Dunevant’s statements will be actualization already a ages over WSPC for the accountable future.
Regarding the Project’s accepted status, the state’s Environmental Review Commission (ERC) will abstraction and advance proposals this abatement in affiliation with the federal relicensing proceeding, which will administer if Alcoa receives an absolute authorization for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, and address them by Feb. 1, 2009. At pale is an estimated $45 actor in anniversary electric ability acquirement and baptize rights that Alcoa’s opponents above the accompaniment accept should be accountable to the ascendancy for the people, not for the account of a clandestine bunch corporation. The baptize rights to accomplish electricity over the next 50 years are conservatively admired in balance of $10 billion.
The Yadkin Hydroelectric Project has four hydroelectric stations, dams and reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River, one of the longest rivers in North Carolina and one of its greatest accustomed resources. The four baptize reservoirs are High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls. The Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed as a accomplished includes 21 counties and contains 93 accompaniment municipalities.
Quotes:
“I am actual admiring that our bounded radio base believes the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project and added water-related issues are so important that they arete several account of its airtime for both abandon to present their beliefs,” said Dunevant. “I appetite anyone with any absorption in the Yadkin River or Stanly County to crop time and accept to WSPC or its Web website to apprehend what we accept to say and why it is so important that we act now to bottle our accustomed assets and achieve our state’s baptize rights.”
Related Links:
www.1010wspc.com
www.ncwaterrights.com
www.mmimarketing.com/blog/?c=Yadkin-Hydroelectric-Project
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization asleep in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
About the N.C. Water Rights Committee:
The N.C. Water Rights Committee is a affiliation of North Carolina businesses and anxious citizens who accept abutting this state-wide accomplishment to acquaint citizens of the analytical issues and decisions apropos baptize rights that affect all North Carolinians now and for abounding decades to come. For added information, appointment www.ncwaterrights.org.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
Stanly County Commissioners Rebut Alcoa Claims On Radio Broadcast
As allotment of the bunch close Alcoa’s accomplishment to defended face-lifting of a 50-year federal authorization for a cartel on hydroelectric ability from the Yadkin River in Stanly County (“the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project”), Gene Ellis, licensing and acreage administrator with Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (“Alcoa”), afresh batten on radio base 1010 AM WSPC about the federal law apropos federal anamnesis of the hydroelectric operations. Stanly County has apprenticed that the law be invoked to admittance the Project’s alteration to the State of North Carolina. In his address, Ellis abominably said that the borderline for the use of the anamnesis law has anesthetized and the acquirement of the dams will amount North Carolina citizens added than they can afford. The absolute facts are as follows:
1) There is no borderline for anamnesis advocacy by FERC beneath federal government rules. While apropos to the Federal Power Act that accustomed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the administering anatomy for licensing the use of accessible waters, Ellis said anamnesis can alone appear if recommended at atomic two years afore a authorization expires. That’s not the accomplished story. The law [Section 7(c) of the Act] aswell provides that FERC has the ascendancy to acclaim anamnesis at any time during the relicensing action “for accessible purposes,” and can abjure the face-lifting of a authorization so that Congress can act on its recommendation.
This agency that if there is advice in the almanac afore FERC that makes the case that it is in the accessible absorption for the US Government to exercise its anamnesis appropriate and alteration the activity to a willing, new buyer like the State of North Carolina, for compensation, again FERC is empowered by law to acclaim to Congress that such an addition in the accessible absorption be considered. Stanly County believes a resolution by the State of North Carolina cogent its absorbed to advance the Yadkin Project for accessible purposes is accordant information; the almanac for the Yadkin Project is not bankrupt and a accommodation has not yet issued on a new license. If the state’s Environmental Review Commission (ERC) recommends the General Assembly ask the federal government to anamnesis the Yadkin authorization on account of the State’s citizens in its address on the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project due by Feb. 1, 2009, again annihilation in the federal law precludes FERC from acting on the State’s recommendation.
2) The acquirement of the dams will be paid aback with profits from the ability revenue, and it will be paid off aural a few years. Already the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project generates an estimated $45 actor in anniversary electric ability acquirement for Alcoa that could and should plan for the people, not for the account of a clandestine bunch corporation. In fact, the electricity generated by the River over the next 50 years (the continuance of the federal license) is conservatively admired in balance of $10 billion. While estimates on how abundant the anamnesis will amount vary, it will not run as top as the hundreds of millions Ellis and added opponents affirmation it will.
This anamnesis acquirement is far bigger for taxpayers than the accepted situation. Alcoa sells the project’s activity on the accessible bazaar to both in-state and out-of-state barter and uses the amnion of the Yadkin as its chargeless antecedent for breeding electricity. It can aswell alteration buying of the activity to anyone – including adopted businesses – who will abide to accept the aforementioned huge bread-and-butter allowances for addition 50 years if the accepted Alcoa authorization is renewed.
3) The account of a hydro activity like Yadkin is that over the long-run, even with all-encompassing basic costs for advance the facilities, the Project is around self-funding because it incurs about no ammunition costs. The Yadkin Project will crave about amid $100-$200 actor in basic costs to advancement the activity accessories and accompany them into ecology compliance. There may be some bargain energy--but that will be account by the college amount of the accessory account articles that are now acceptable priced at market. The hydro is cocky allotment and would amount taxpayers annihilation in the continued run, in adverse to added forms of accepted bearing area ammunition purchases aggregate the cutting aggregate of the cost. The dams accept continued been paid for, as Alcoa acquired ascendancy of this accessible ability in 1915. If accepted a new license, the association will accept controlled these accessible amnion for 150 years.
4) The primary affair affecting the accompaniment is the approaching ascendancy of the Yadkin River’s water. In his address, Ellis said a change in activity buying will not change the availability of baptize in the Yadkin, back the State would still charge to ask FERC for permission on baptize usage. But if the State were the licensee, it (rather than Alcoa) is the one that can adduce changes, and the FERC rarely denies a accepted use proposed by the licensee. Thus, the approaching baptize needs of North Carolinians who await on the Yadkin for drinking, amusement and added uses could be accountable to standards far altered from that activated by a association like Alcoa that necessarily maximizes accumulation aloft its contributions to the accessible and to the State.
The Yadkin Hydroelectric Project has four hydroelectric stations, dams and reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River, one of the longest rivers in North Carolina and one of its greatest accustomed resources. The four baptize reservoirs are High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls. The Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed as a accomplished includes 21 counties and contains 93 accompaniment municipalities.
Quotes:
“Efforts by the Stanly County Commissioners accept been adherent to accepting and administration an honest compassionate of the options accessible to the citizens of North Carolina,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “The facts are that Alcoa is benefitting abundantly from the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project application one of North Carolina’s greatest accustomed resources, the Yadkin River, for free, and the alterity amid what Alcoa contributes aback to North Carolina against what it takes out for its shareholders from the Project is all-inclusive and arbitrary to the citizens of the state. We achievement the Environmental Review Commission will appraise the absoluteness of the bearings and the accomplished argument of the law if belief the Project, rather than the incorrect and abridged account Mr. Ellis presented in his address.”
Related Links:
www.1010wspc.com
www.ncwaterrights.com
www.mmimarketing.com/blog/?c=Yadkin-Hydroelectric-Project
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plant, but it wants to abide reaping—for addition 50 years-- the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization asleep in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River and its admixture operations, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who should be able to use their own accustomed assets to assure they adore the affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler baptize accessible from addition buying of the Yadkin River Project.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
1) There is no borderline for anamnesis advocacy by FERC beneath federal government rules. While apropos to the Federal Power Act that accustomed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the administering anatomy for licensing the use of accessible waters, Ellis said anamnesis can alone appear if recommended at atomic two years afore a authorization expires. That’s not the accomplished story. The law [Section 7(c) of the Act] aswell provides that FERC has the ascendancy to acclaim anamnesis at any time during the relicensing action “for accessible purposes,” and can abjure the face-lifting of a authorization so that Congress can act on its recommendation.
This agency that if there is advice in the almanac afore FERC that makes the case that it is in the accessible absorption for the US Government to exercise its anamnesis appropriate and alteration the activity to a willing, new buyer like the State of North Carolina, for compensation, again FERC is empowered by law to acclaim to Congress that such an addition in the accessible absorption be considered. Stanly County believes a resolution by the State of North Carolina cogent its absorbed to advance the Yadkin Project for accessible purposes is accordant information; the almanac for the Yadkin Project is not bankrupt and a accommodation has not yet issued on a new license. If the state’s Environmental Review Commission (ERC) recommends the General Assembly ask the federal government to anamnesis the Yadkin authorization on account of the State’s citizens in its address on the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project due by Feb. 1, 2009, again annihilation in the federal law precludes FERC from acting on the State’s recommendation.
2) The acquirement of the dams will be paid aback with profits from the ability revenue, and it will be paid off aural a few years. Already the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project generates an estimated $45 actor in anniversary electric ability acquirement for Alcoa that could and should plan for the people, not for the account of a clandestine bunch corporation. In fact, the electricity generated by the River over the next 50 years (the continuance of the federal license) is conservatively admired in balance of $10 billion. While estimates on how abundant the anamnesis will amount vary, it will not run as top as the hundreds of millions Ellis and added opponents affirmation it will.
This anamnesis acquirement is far bigger for taxpayers than the accepted situation. Alcoa sells the project’s activity on the accessible bazaar to both in-state and out-of-state barter and uses the amnion of the Yadkin as its chargeless antecedent for breeding electricity. It can aswell alteration buying of the activity to anyone – including adopted businesses – who will abide to accept the aforementioned huge bread-and-butter allowances for addition 50 years if the accepted Alcoa authorization is renewed.
3) The account of a hydro activity like Yadkin is that over the long-run, even with all-encompassing basic costs for advance the facilities, the Project is around self-funding because it incurs about no ammunition costs. The Yadkin Project will crave about amid $100-$200 actor in basic costs to advancement the activity accessories and accompany them into ecology compliance. There may be some bargain energy--but that will be account by the college amount of the accessory account articles that are now acceptable priced at market. The hydro is cocky allotment and would amount taxpayers annihilation in the continued run, in adverse to added forms of accepted bearing area ammunition purchases aggregate the cutting aggregate of the cost. The dams accept continued been paid for, as Alcoa acquired ascendancy of this accessible ability in 1915. If accepted a new license, the association will accept controlled these accessible amnion for 150 years.
4) The primary affair affecting the accompaniment is the approaching ascendancy of the Yadkin River’s water. In his address, Ellis said a change in activity buying will not change the availability of baptize in the Yadkin, back the State would still charge to ask FERC for permission on baptize usage. But if the State were the licensee, it (rather than Alcoa) is the one that can adduce changes, and the FERC rarely denies a accepted use proposed by the licensee. Thus, the approaching baptize needs of North Carolinians who await on the Yadkin for drinking, amusement and added uses could be accountable to standards far altered from that activated by a association like Alcoa that necessarily maximizes accumulation aloft its contributions to the accessible and to the State.
The Yadkin Hydroelectric Project has four hydroelectric stations, dams and reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River, one of the longest rivers in North Carolina and one of its greatest accustomed resources. The four baptize reservoirs are High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls. The Yadkin-Pee Dee Watershed as a accomplished includes 21 counties and contains 93 accompaniment municipalities.
Quotes:
“Efforts by the Stanly County Commissioners accept been adherent to accepting and administration an honest compassionate of the options accessible to the citizens of North Carolina,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “The facts are that Alcoa is benefitting abundantly from the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project application one of North Carolina’s greatest accustomed resources, the Yadkin River, for free, and the alterity amid what Alcoa contributes aback to North Carolina against what it takes out for its shareholders from the Project is all-inclusive and arbitrary to the citizens of the state. We achievement the Environmental Review Commission will appraise the absoluteness of the bearings and the accomplished argument of the law if belief the Project, rather than the incorrect and abridged account Mr. Ellis presented in his address.”
Related Links:
www.1010wspc.com
www.ncwaterrights.com
www.mmimarketing.com/blog/?c=Yadkin-Hydroelectric-Project
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plant, but it wants to abide reaping—for addition 50 years-- the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization asleep in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River and its admixture operations, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who should be able to use their own accustomed assets to assure they adore the affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler baptize accessible from addition buying of the Yadkin River Project.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
N.C. House Committee Gives Favorable Report To Yadkin River Trust Bill
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners has bidding its approval that associates of the N.C. House Water Resources and Infrastructure Committee voted 8-7 on August 5, 2009 to actualize a Yadkin River Trust to develop, advertise and deliver hydroelectric ability generated by the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project for the account of the humans of North Carolina rather than abide the cartel captivated by Alcoa on the Project, which includes four dams and powerhouses alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs in Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties. With the N.C. Senate accepting overwhelmingly accustomed the bill by a vote of 44-4 on May 6, 2009 the bill appears acceptable to win approval from the accompaniment House as well.
Legislators who voted for the bill cited Alcoa's abortion to advance the jobs that were a action of it's 1958 license, its absolution from accepting adapted by the N.C. Utilities Commission (it can appropriately advertise the hydroelectricity generated by its dams wherever it wants at whatever amount it can obtain), and its adeptness to advertise its authorization for accumulation to any entity, even adopted firms, and the agreement of that authorization would abide in aftereffect after FERC analysis for the continuance of the 50 years it was issued.
The bill sponsor, Senator Fletcher Hartsell, accurate apropos about Alcoa's ecology clue almanac with the Project. He cited letters which begin "significant contamination" including PCBs at the Alcoa website on Badin Lake, which is allotment of the Project that flows into the Yadkin River via Narrows Dam in Stanly County.
Senator Hartsell aswell cited a acknowledged filing by Alcoa arduous a Fish Consumption Advisory advertence that abundant women, women who may become pregnant, and accouchement beneath 15 should abstain bistro catfish and largemouth bass from Badin Lake due to top levels of mercury and PCBs. That advising was addition archetype that agitated some legislators about Alcoa's 18-carat charge to accepting a acceptable abettor of the Project.
The Trust will account aspects of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) adjourned by bounded government and ecology groups in 2008, including baptize for the City of Albemarle, a absolute aridity administration plan (the "Low Inflow Protocol"), baptize above improvements for the Yadkin, and new and broadcast accessible amusement facilities. However, the Trust will accommodate added allowances to North Carolina accompaniment association than Alcoa, including:
- An affirmation that the baptize of the Yadkin, which the accessible owns, will be admired for the account of all North Carolinians rather than exploited for profit.
- Priority application to bounded needs, with the absorbed of abating and convalescent environmental, accessible health, bread-and-butter and job considerations.
- Power generated from the Project will be acclimated for the account of the citizens of North Carolina, not a bunch aggregation accountable to no one in North Carolina.
The bill aswell establishes a Board of Directors of seven associates appointed by the Governor and accepted by the General Assembly to baby-sit the Yadkin River Trust and backpack out its goals and activities.
If both the Yadkin River Trust is accustomed and the FERC agrees to acclaim to Congress anamnesis of the Project's authorization for consecutive alteration to the State of North Carolina, Alcoa would be advantaged to be reimbursed for its "net investment," not to beat "fair value" additional any "severance damages" if the federal government requires the authorization to be returned. (The federal government abandoned has appropriate to anamnesis the Project aloft transaction of net investment and severance amercement to Alcoa. Congress can accompanying accommodate in its law that the FERC be appropriate to affair a authorization to the State of North Carolina, accountable to transaction of such net investment to the U.S. government.) The "net investment" for the Yadkin Project is $24.16 million, according to Alcoa's authorization appliance filed with the FERC in April 2006. That agency that Alcoa would be advantaged to $24.16 actor additional severance damages, which accredit to alone that allocation of the activity accessories that are rendered abortive by the recapture. As the Project generates tens of millions of profits annually for Alcoa, the Trust would not amount taxpayers money.
The FERC's audition on a accommodation on Alcoa's authorization has not been appear at this point. Gov. Bev Perdue has asked and accustomed the adventitious to present the state's case adjoin Alcoa afore the FERC makes a final cardinal on the relicensing.
Quotes:
"On account of my board, I ambition to acknowledge our accompaniment assembly who voted for this adventurous admeasurement to anamnesis our state's baptize rights for the Yadkin River," said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. "Once again, we had abutment of a majority of Republicans and Democrats on the committee, assuming that the affair has bipartisan appeal. They accept the huge absolute advance the Yadkin River Trust will accommodate the accompaniment economically and environmentally."
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
www.ncwaterrights.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy+part+II http://bit.ly/19adce (Alcoa Pollution Worldwide - Google Map)
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world's arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina's a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa's profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Ryal Curtis
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
ryal@mmimarketing.com
Legislators who voted for the bill cited Alcoa's abortion to advance the jobs that were a action of it's 1958 license, its absolution from accepting adapted by the N.C. Utilities Commission (it can appropriately advertise the hydroelectricity generated by its dams wherever it wants at whatever amount it can obtain), and its adeptness to advertise its authorization for accumulation to any entity, even adopted firms, and the agreement of that authorization would abide in aftereffect after FERC analysis for the continuance of the 50 years it was issued.
The bill sponsor, Senator Fletcher Hartsell, accurate apropos about Alcoa's ecology clue almanac with the Project. He cited letters which begin "significant contamination" including PCBs at the Alcoa website on Badin Lake, which is allotment of the Project that flows into the Yadkin River via Narrows Dam in Stanly County.
Senator Hartsell aswell cited a acknowledged filing by Alcoa arduous a Fish Consumption Advisory advertence that abundant women, women who may become pregnant, and accouchement beneath 15 should abstain bistro catfish and largemouth bass from Badin Lake due to top levels of mercury and PCBs. That advising was addition archetype that agitated some legislators about Alcoa's 18-carat charge to accepting a acceptable abettor of the Project.
The Trust will account aspects of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) adjourned by bounded government and ecology groups in 2008, including baptize for the City of Albemarle, a absolute aridity administration plan (the "Low Inflow Protocol"), baptize above improvements for the Yadkin, and new and broadcast accessible amusement facilities. However, the Trust will accommodate added allowances to North Carolina accompaniment association than Alcoa, including:
- An affirmation that the baptize of the Yadkin, which the accessible owns, will be admired for the account of all North Carolinians rather than exploited for profit.
- Priority application to bounded needs, with the absorbed of abating and convalescent environmental, accessible health, bread-and-butter and job considerations.
- Power generated from the Project will be acclimated for the account of the citizens of North Carolina, not a bunch aggregation accountable to no one in North Carolina.
The bill aswell establishes a Board of Directors of seven associates appointed by the Governor and accepted by the General Assembly to baby-sit the Yadkin River Trust and backpack out its goals and activities.
If both the Yadkin River Trust is accustomed and the FERC agrees to acclaim to Congress anamnesis of the Project's authorization for consecutive alteration to the State of North Carolina, Alcoa would be advantaged to be reimbursed for its "net investment," not to beat "fair value" additional any "severance damages" if the federal government requires the authorization to be returned. (The federal government abandoned has appropriate to anamnesis the Project aloft transaction of net investment and severance amercement to Alcoa. Congress can accompanying accommodate in its law that the FERC be appropriate to affair a authorization to the State of North Carolina, accountable to transaction of such net investment to the U.S. government.) The "net investment" for the Yadkin Project is $24.16 million, according to Alcoa's authorization appliance filed with the FERC in April 2006. That agency that Alcoa would be advantaged to $24.16 actor additional severance damages, which accredit to alone that allocation of the activity accessories that are rendered abortive by the recapture. As the Project generates tens of millions of profits annually for Alcoa, the Trust would not amount taxpayers money.
The FERC's audition on a accommodation on Alcoa's authorization has not been appear at this point. Gov. Bev Perdue has asked and accustomed the adventitious to present the state's case adjoin Alcoa afore the FERC makes a final cardinal on the relicensing.
Quotes:
"On account of my board, I ambition to acknowledge our accompaniment assembly who voted for this adventurous admeasurement to anamnesis our state's baptize rights for the Yadkin River," said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. "Once again, we had abutment of a majority of Republicans and Democrats on the committee, assuming that the affair has bipartisan appeal. They accept the huge absolute advance the Yadkin River Trust will accommodate the accompaniment economically and environmentally."
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
www.ncwaterrights.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy+part+II http://bit.ly/19adce (Alcoa Pollution Worldwide - Google Map)
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world's arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina's a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa's profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Ryal Curtis
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
ryal@mmimarketing.com
Recapture Option Still On The Table For Yadkin Hydroelectric Project
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners has bidding its renewed charge to abutment the accompaniment of North Carolina’s case to accomplish Alcoa acknowledgment its authorization for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, which includes four dams and powerhouses alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs in Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties. The advertisement follows the Aug. 6 vote by the N.C. House of Representatives acquisition a bare down adaptation of a bill to abutment enactment of a accompaniment assurance to baby-sit the Project. While that accommodation aghast Stanly County, its Commissioners emphasized that several opportunities abide to end Alcoa’s bread-and-butter and ecology corruption of the Project and will be pursued. The a lot of important of these options is Gov. Bev Perdue’s action adjoin Alcoa afore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) area she has intervened in favor of the acknowledgment of the authorization instead of acceding Alcoa addition 50-year authorization for the Project.
The abounding adaptation of the Yadkin Trust legislation anesthetized the NC Senate twice, aboriginal by a vote of 44-4 on SB 967 and a vote of 45-2 on HB 1099. While the NC House decidedly afflicted the accent in SB 967 and again ultimately defeated that legislation, the abounding argument of the enabling legislation charcoal complete in HB 1099 which is currently in appointment amid the House and Senate. The Stanly County Board of Commissioners are assured that the appointment address on HB 1099 will accommodate the Yadkin Trust accent and be accustomed by the absolute General Assembly.
The capital apropos of the axle for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project abide the aforementioned as during altercation of the accompaniment assurance abstraction – antecedence application to statewide needs, with the absorbed of abating and convalescent environmental, accessible health, bread-and-butter and job considerations. There accept been no break by Alcoa it intends to accomplish abundant improvements in any of these areas, even with the contempo abstraction by admired baptize above able Dr. John H. Rodgers Jr. that accepted there is a accord amid the cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works ability on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake, a 5,300-acre backlog that empties into the Yadkin through the Narrows Dam. This abstraction accepted what the axle had claimed for years, that Alcoa is the antecedent of abundant contagion begin in the basin and river, and that contagion is adverse to humans.
Alcoa has filed acknowledged challenges to the Badin Lake angle burning advising issued by the accompaniment which says abundant women, women who may become pregnant, and accouchement beneath 15 should abstain bistro catfish and largemouth bass from Badin Lake due to top levels of mercury and PCBs. Alcoa has aswell challenged the agreement of a 401 baptize above acceptance it has accustomed from the state, claiming that the acceptance was issued unlawfully and aghast to requirements of accepting to pay a $240 actor aggressiveness band for the Project as able-bodied as acclamation attenuated oxygen levels in the four dams. Alcoa has promised a $240 actor investment to advancement and advance the ability of its ability generators at the Project as allotment of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) it has active with several added groups and included in its federal relicensing application, yet it now feels guaranteeing that actual aforementioned amount as transaction to the accompaniment is somehow improper.
Because of Alcoa’s abiding abnegation to accomplish to absolute bread-and-butter and ecology improvements for the Project in its appliance for addition 50-year authorization from the FERC, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners is advancement all supporters to abide to articulation abutment for the acknowledgment of the license. The axle encourages the accessible to let accompaniment leaders apperceive that anamnesis of the authorization can account all aspects of the RSA, including baptize for the City of Albemarle, a absolute aridity administration plan (the "Low Inflow Protocol"), baptize above improvements for the Yadkin, and new and broadcast accessible amusement facilities, as able-bodied as accommodate added allowances to North Carolina accompaniment association than Alcoa, including:
- An affirmation that the baptize of the Yadkin, which the accessible owns, will be admired for the account of all North Carolinians rather than exploited for profit.
- Priority application to bounded needs, with the absorbed of abating and convalescent environmental, accessible health, bread-and-butter and job considerations.
- Power generated from the Project will be acclimated for the account of the citizens of North Carolina, not a bunch aggregation accountable to no one in North Carolina.
The tens of millions in profits Alcoa receives from affairs the hydropower mostly alfresco the accompaniment on the electrical filigree should instead account the abridgement and pay for ecology upgrades that would accomplish the Yadkin baptize safer for drinking, charwoman and recreational purposes, including fishing and swimming. But if Alcoa receives its license, it will abide accepting absolved from regulations by the N.C. Utilities Commission to advertise hydroelectricity wherever it wants at whatever amount it can obtain, and it will be able advertise its authorization for accumulation to any entity, even adopted firms, and the agreement of that authorization would abide in aftereffect after FERC analysis for the continuance of the 50 years it was issued.
Quotes:
“This action for our baptize rights is not over, by any stretch,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “We will use every agency accessible and all-important to accomplish abiding our articulation is heard, as able-bodied as collapse the massive aggregate of absolute lies Alcoa is authoritative as allotment of its huge attack to advance its accompanying ascendancy of and carelessness for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. The cachet quo for the next 50 years is artlessly not able if North Carolina is to accept a active bread-and-butter and ecology approaching for areas affiliated to the Project.”
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
www.ncwaterrights.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy+part+II http://bit.ly/19adce (Alcoa Pollution Worldwide - Google Map)
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world's arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina's a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa's profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Ryal Curtis
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
ryal@mmimarketing.com
The abounding adaptation of the Yadkin Trust legislation anesthetized the NC Senate twice, aboriginal by a vote of 44-4 on SB 967 and a vote of 45-2 on HB 1099. While the NC House decidedly afflicted the accent in SB 967 and again ultimately defeated that legislation, the abounding argument of the enabling legislation charcoal complete in HB 1099 which is currently in appointment amid the House and Senate. The Stanly County Board of Commissioners are assured that the appointment address on HB 1099 will accommodate the Yadkin Trust accent and be accustomed by the absolute General Assembly.
The capital apropos of the axle for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project abide the aforementioned as during altercation of the accompaniment assurance abstraction – antecedence application to statewide needs, with the absorbed of abating and convalescent environmental, accessible health, bread-and-butter and job considerations. There accept been no break by Alcoa it intends to accomplish abundant improvements in any of these areas, even with the contempo abstraction by admired baptize above able Dr. John H. Rodgers Jr. that accepted there is a accord amid the cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works ability on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake, a 5,300-acre backlog that empties into the Yadkin through the Narrows Dam. This abstraction accepted what the axle had claimed for years, that Alcoa is the antecedent of abundant contagion begin in the basin and river, and that contagion is adverse to humans.
Alcoa has filed acknowledged challenges to the Badin Lake angle burning advising issued by the accompaniment which says abundant women, women who may become pregnant, and accouchement beneath 15 should abstain bistro catfish and largemouth bass from Badin Lake due to top levels of mercury and PCBs. Alcoa has aswell challenged the agreement of a 401 baptize above acceptance it has accustomed from the state, claiming that the acceptance was issued unlawfully and aghast to requirements of accepting to pay a $240 actor aggressiveness band for the Project as able-bodied as acclamation attenuated oxygen levels in the four dams. Alcoa has promised a $240 actor investment to advancement and advance the ability of its ability generators at the Project as allotment of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) it has active with several added groups and included in its federal relicensing application, yet it now feels guaranteeing that actual aforementioned amount as transaction to the accompaniment is somehow improper.
Because of Alcoa’s abiding abnegation to accomplish to absolute bread-and-butter and ecology improvements for the Project in its appliance for addition 50-year authorization from the FERC, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners is advancement all supporters to abide to articulation abutment for the acknowledgment of the license. The axle encourages the accessible to let accompaniment leaders apperceive that anamnesis of the authorization can account all aspects of the RSA, including baptize for the City of Albemarle, a absolute aridity administration plan (the "Low Inflow Protocol"), baptize above improvements for the Yadkin, and new and broadcast accessible amusement facilities, as able-bodied as accommodate added allowances to North Carolina accompaniment association than Alcoa, including:
- An affirmation that the baptize of the Yadkin, which the accessible owns, will be admired for the account of all North Carolinians rather than exploited for profit.
- Priority application to bounded needs, with the absorbed of abating and convalescent environmental, accessible health, bread-and-butter and job considerations.
- Power generated from the Project will be acclimated for the account of the citizens of North Carolina, not a bunch aggregation accountable to no one in North Carolina.
The tens of millions in profits Alcoa receives from affairs the hydropower mostly alfresco the accompaniment on the electrical filigree should instead account the abridgement and pay for ecology upgrades that would accomplish the Yadkin baptize safer for drinking, charwoman and recreational purposes, including fishing and swimming. But if Alcoa receives its license, it will abide accepting absolved from regulations by the N.C. Utilities Commission to advertise hydroelectricity wherever it wants at whatever amount it can obtain, and it will be able advertise its authorization for accumulation to any entity, even adopted firms, and the agreement of that authorization would abide in aftereffect after FERC analysis for the continuance of the 50 years it was issued.
Quotes:
“This action for our baptize rights is not over, by any stretch,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “We will use every agency accessible and all-important to accomplish abiding our articulation is heard, as able-bodied as collapse the massive aggregate of absolute lies Alcoa is authoritative as allotment of its huge attack to advance its accompanying ascendancy of and carelessness for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. The cachet quo for the next 50 years is artlessly not able if North Carolina is to accept a active bread-and-butter and ecology approaching for areas affiliated to the Project.”
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
www.ncwaterrights.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy www.mmimarketing.com/podcast/North+Carolina+Water+Policy+part+II http://bit.ly/19adce (Alcoa Pollution Worldwide - Google Map)
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world's arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina's a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa's profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Ryal Curtis
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
ryal@mmimarketing.com
Yadkin Riverkeeper Applauds Installation of Fish Consumption Advisory Signs at Badin Lake
The Yadkin Riverkeeper® has acclaimed the contempo accession of angle burning advising signs alternating Badin Lake admonishing humans not to eat catfish and largemouth bass from the backlog due to animated levels of PCBs begin in samples in a abstraction conducted by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS issued this advising for Badin Lake, which empties into the Yadkin River via Narrows Dam, on Feb. 11, but Alcoa, which oversees the basin as allotment of its administration of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, has against accepting the signs on the website and filed an address April 9 agitation the arising of the advisory, claiming it was unjustified. In ablaze of a aftereffect abstraction appear in aboriginal August by baptize above able John H. Rodgers, Jr., Ph.D., that accepted there is a accord amid the PCBs acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works ability on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake, the Yadkin Riverkeeper says Alcoa’s accomplishments reflect ailing on its claims of accepting environmentally acute for the Project and serves as added absolution that it should not accept addition 50-year federal authorization to administer the Project, as it is now aggravating to accomplish.
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said Alcoa’s denials about its captivation with PCBs in Badin Lake are a arguable point with the latest study. He is allurement the aggregation to explain why it has been angry the advising agilely even as added affirmation indicates it is the antecedent of abundant contagion at the lake.
“The accession of these signs is overdue, accustomed how DHHS aboriginal appear the advising to the media six months ago,” said Naujoks. “Since then, Alcoa has fought to accumulate these signs traveling up as appropriate by law, which says volumes about how it respects ecology legislation for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. What Alcoa says about its charge for convalescent the ecology above of the Project generally is not squaring up with what it is in actuality accomplishing appropriate now.”
The acquaint bilingual (English and Spanish) angle burning advising signs at the basin apprehend as follows:
“Do not eat added than one (1) meal a anniversary of catfish or largemouth bass from Badin Lake. If you are pregnant, may become pregnant, are nursing, or are a adolescent beneath 15 years of age, do not eat any of these fish. Elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) accept been begin in some catfish and largemouth bass. Swimming, boating, and administration angle do not present a accepted bloom risk.
“Eating added than one meal a anniversary of these angle may access a person’s accident of developing bloom problems such as cancer, infection, or derma problems. The babies of abundant or nursing women who eat these angle may acquaintance adorning or added bloom problems.”
PCBs are apparent animal carcinogens and are associated with added bloom risks, including anemia; accident to the liver, abdomen or thyroid gland; changes in the allowed arrangement or changeable system; and behavioral problems.
When he was appointed Yadkin Riverkeeper, Naujoks advised letters of absolute contagion at Badin Lake, a 5,300-acre anatomy of baptize that flows into the river in Stanly County via Narrows Dam. It is one of four reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River that comprise the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Reports of decades of abuse in the across associated with a now-defunct smelter Alcoa operated abreast it, including abstracts that Alcoa absolved such contaminants as PCBs into the air, acreage and waterways, prompted Naujoks to investigate added items apropos the firm’s activities.
Naujoks has been afterward studies of Badin Lake intently, abnormally the plan of Dr. Rodgers, who alternate in the DHHS sampling and connected researching the basin by accession and belief seven debris samples and reviewing N.C. Division of Waste Management abstracts on the PCBs acclimated at the Alcoa Badin Works Facility. PCBs are a ancestors of automated chlorinated actinic compounds that cover 209 accessible forms, or “congeners,” so Dr. Rogers and Dr. Matt Huddleston analyzed the PCB congeners and concentrations in the angle tissue with those in debris samples from the southwest arm of Badin Lake (near the Alcoa facility) and added locations of the lake.
Dr. Rodgers assured from his analysis the accord amid PCBs acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works ability on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake. Congeners detected in the angle tissue provided added affirmation of sediments as a antecedent of PCBs, while PCB congeners detected in sediments from the southwest arm (near the Alcoa facility) accept concentrations 10 to 100 times greater than sediments from added locations of the lake.
With this advice and added analysis he has studied, Naujoks opposes Alcoa’s relicensing effort, because his obligations as Yadkin Riverkeeper absorb respecting, protecting, and convalescent the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin, and the firm’s appliance fails to accommodated these goals for the river.
“Alcoa has a harder time even acknowledging the actuality that there are PCBs in the lake, which is bad enough, but accustomed the threats PCBs affectation to humans, it is a abasement that Alcoa would rather attempt people’s bloom than be honest about its situation,” assured Naujoks. “They should not be accustomed to act this way for addition 50 years and bribery the accessible assurance for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed American Rivers’ 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said Alcoa’s denials about its captivation with PCBs in Badin Lake are a arguable point with the latest study. He is allurement the aggregation to explain why it has been angry the advising agilely even as added affirmation indicates it is the antecedent of abundant contagion at the lake.
“The accession of these signs is overdue, accustomed how DHHS aboriginal appear the advising to the media six months ago,” said Naujoks. “Since then, Alcoa has fought to accumulate these signs traveling up as appropriate by law, which says volumes about how it respects ecology legislation for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. What Alcoa says about its charge for convalescent the ecology above of the Project generally is not squaring up with what it is in actuality accomplishing appropriate now.”
The acquaint bilingual (English and Spanish) angle burning advising signs at the basin apprehend as follows:
“Do not eat added than one (1) meal a anniversary of catfish or largemouth bass from Badin Lake. If you are pregnant, may become pregnant, are nursing, or are a adolescent beneath 15 years of age, do not eat any of these fish. Elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) accept been begin in some catfish and largemouth bass. Swimming, boating, and administration angle do not present a accepted bloom risk.
“Eating added than one meal a anniversary of these angle may access a person’s accident of developing bloom problems such as cancer, infection, or derma problems. The babies of abundant or nursing women who eat these angle may acquaintance adorning or added bloom problems.”
PCBs are apparent animal carcinogens and are associated with added bloom risks, including anemia; accident to the liver, abdomen or thyroid gland; changes in the allowed arrangement or changeable system; and behavioral problems.
When he was appointed Yadkin Riverkeeper, Naujoks advised letters of absolute contagion at Badin Lake, a 5,300-acre anatomy of baptize that flows into the river in Stanly County via Narrows Dam. It is one of four reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River that comprise the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Reports of decades of abuse in the across associated with a now-defunct smelter Alcoa operated abreast it, including abstracts that Alcoa absolved such contaminants as PCBs into the air, acreage and waterways, prompted Naujoks to investigate added items apropos the firm’s activities.
Naujoks has been afterward studies of Badin Lake intently, abnormally the plan of Dr. Rodgers, who alternate in the DHHS sampling and connected researching the basin by accession and belief seven debris samples and reviewing N.C. Division of Waste Management abstracts on the PCBs acclimated at the Alcoa Badin Works Facility. PCBs are a ancestors of automated chlorinated actinic compounds that cover 209 accessible forms, or “congeners,” so Dr. Rogers and Dr. Matt Huddleston analyzed the PCB congeners and concentrations in the angle tissue with those in debris samples from the southwest arm of Badin Lake (near the Alcoa facility) and added locations of the lake.
Dr. Rodgers assured from his analysis the accord amid PCBs acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works ability on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake. Congeners detected in the angle tissue provided added affirmation of sediments as a antecedent of PCBs, while PCB congeners detected in sediments from the southwest arm (near the Alcoa facility) accept concentrations 10 to 100 times greater than sediments from added locations of the lake.
With this advice and added analysis he has studied, Naujoks opposes Alcoa’s relicensing effort, because his obligations as Yadkin Riverkeeper absorb respecting, protecting, and convalescent the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin, and the firm’s appliance fails to accommodated these goals for the river.
“Alcoa has a harder time even acknowledging the actuality that there are PCBs in the lake, which is bad enough, but accustomed the threats PCBs affectation to humans, it is a abasement that Alcoa would rather attempt people’s bloom than be honest about its situation,” assured Naujoks. “They should not be accustomed to act this way for addition 50 years and bribery the accessible assurance for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed American Rivers’ 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Stanly County Commissioners Commend Governor Perdue For FERC Filing
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners (www.co.stanly.nc.us) is commending Gov. Bev Perdue for filing affirmation on September 18, 2009 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in action to a 50-year licensing face-lifting appeal by Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. (“Alcoa”) for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Gov. Perdue believes the bunch close is declining to abode the economic, recreational, baptize above and added ecology needs of North Carolina’s citizens. Her filing is the latest action she has taken demonstrating how Alcoa has bootless to appearance its affair for the health, assurance and abundance of the accepted accessible as it attempts to advance a cartel on baptize rights and hydroelectric ability generated by the Project, which includes dams and powerhouses alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs in Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties.
Gov. Perdue’s latest filing at FERC includes a business plan developed by the N.C. Department of Commerce advantaged “THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA’S 21ST CENTURY PLAN FOR THE USE OF THE YADKIN RIVER RESOURCES.” This abstraction concludes that adverse to Alcoa’s claims, the state’s anamnesis of its baptize rights for the Project is economically achievable and financially amiable to the State of North Carolina. According to the business plan the State will administer the Yadkin River assets for the accessible acceptable and to authenticate the State’s adeptness to administer this ability by:
1.Providing complete administration of this acute and admired accessible ability and fiscally advisable operation and aliment of both the baptize assets of the Yadkin River and the hydroelectric bulb facilities.
2.Allocating a allocation of the Project revenues for appropriate basic improvements to the Project that will enhance the above of the Yadkin River amnion and assembly from the anachronistic bulb facilities, and assure acceptance of citizens to cooler water, even during astringent droughts.
3.Dedicating a allocation of the anniversary revenues to allotment long-term, advancing programs that enhance the basement of the arena and the State, including accessory and abiding allotment of our association academy system.
4.Dedicating a allocation of the anniversary revenues to armamentarium bounded improvements abreast the Project, whether environmental, accessible health, or recreational, with ascribe from bounded communities and agencies.
5.Providing funds for long-term, absolute planning for the Yadkin River Basin, to axle alteration accessible amiable needs, and that will accommodate the State with the adaptability to act promptly to accommodated accessible needs apropos to baptize accumulation and the administration of the Yadkin River.
6.Providing a archetypal for operating the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project calmly and in a business-like appearance with amount abounding aback into about admired basement for the State.
Governor Perdue has been an agog analyzer of Alcoa’s proposed relicensing based on bread-and-butter and ecology concerns. In a letter to the FERC anachronous June 3, 2008, if she was abettor governor, she requested a adjournment by the agency not to admission the authorization by acquainted that “the antithesis of clandestine against accessible account associated with operation of the dams in these communities is now decidedly altered than it was if the dams were aboriginal licensed” to Alcoa in 1958. In March of this year she appear her intentions to seek action at FERC while acquainted that Alcoa affected hundreds of North Carolinians out of plan if it bankrupt its smelter at Badin in 2002, admitting adage in its 1958 licensing it would accumulate those jobs as allotment of its blank of the Project. Eight associates of the N.C. aldermanic appointment followed the governor’s advance and wrote to FERC requesting that she be accustomed acceptable time to present new affirmation assuming why Alcoa’s appliance for a 50-year authorization for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project should be denied,
On May 20, Gov. Perdue filed a “friend of the court” abrupt requesting that Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster admission an admonition barring the arising of a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa for the Project. Alcoa have to access the accompaniment acceptance in adjustment to accept a authorization from FERC. Special Deputy Attorney General Faison Hicks batten on account of Gov. Perdue and told Judge Webster that in the governor’s view, Stanly County’s address for the admonition “has aloft questions traveling anon to the abundance of our environment, the activity of the Yadkin River and, ultimately, the bloom and assurance of the humans of this state” that charge to be addressed afore Alcoa accustomed the certification. Judge Webster agreed and disqualified May 26 to abjure acceding Alcoa the admittance until a abounding address is heard from both abandon of the matter.
If Alcoa receives the FERC license, it will accept an absolute cartel on baptize rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the Yadkin River for addition 50 years, and the befalling to accomplish abounding millions in profits affairs electricity generated from amnion acceptance to North Carolina citizens. Unlike added companies that accomplish electricity in North Carolina, Alcoa is not adapted by the N.C. Utilities Commission, and sells its electricity on the broad bazaar rather than to N.C. customers.
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners accept been able opponents of acceptance Alcoa to abide its cartel of the Project because of Alcoa’s poor ecology history with its operation on the Yadkin River, the abandonment of operations by Alcoa at the Badin Works with its accompanying accident of 1,000 jobs and the appropriate of the humans to ascendancy the baptize that belongs to them. Many added official groups accept accustomed this position, including a lot of afresh the State Executive Committee of the North Carolina Democratic Party, which anesthetized a resolution in abutment of the accompaniment recapturing the baptize rights for the Project on Aug. 29.
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
www.governor.state.nc.us
www.enr.state.nc.us/index.htm
Quotes:
“Once again, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners is acutely accountable to Gov. Bev Perdue as she continues to action the acceptable action for our baptize rights,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “The governor has been able to see the accuracy of this affair amidst all the circuit provided by Alcoa and knows she is advancing the best advantage for the accompaniment in the continued run for its bread-and-butter and ecology future.”
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Public Relations
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
Gov. Perdue’s latest filing at FERC includes a business plan developed by the N.C. Department of Commerce advantaged “THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA’S 21ST CENTURY PLAN FOR THE USE OF THE YADKIN RIVER RESOURCES.” This abstraction concludes that adverse to Alcoa’s claims, the state’s anamnesis of its baptize rights for the Project is economically achievable and financially amiable to the State of North Carolina. According to the business plan the State will administer the Yadkin River assets for the accessible acceptable and to authenticate the State’s adeptness to administer this ability by:
1.Providing complete administration of this acute and admired accessible ability and fiscally advisable operation and aliment of both the baptize assets of the Yadkin River and the hydroelectric bulb facilities.
2.Allocating a allocation of the Project revenues for appropriate basic improvements to the Project that will enhance the above of the Yadkin River amnion and assembly from the anachronistic bulb facilities, and assure acceptance of citizens to cooler water, even during astringent droughts.
3.Dedicating a allocation of the anniversary revenues to allotment long-term, advancing programs that enhance the basement of the arena and the State, including accessory and abiding allotment of our association academy system.
4.Dedicating a allocation of the anniversary revenues to armamentarium bounded improvements abreast the Project, whether environmental, accessible health, or recreational, with ascribe from bounded communities and agencies.
5.Providing funds for long-term, absolute planning for the Yadkin River Basin, to axle alteration accessible amiable needs, and that will accommodate the State with the adaptability to act promptly to accommodated accessible needs apropos to baptize accumulation and the administration of the Yadkin River.
6.Providing a archetypal for operating the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project calmly and in a business-like appearance with amount abounding aback into about admired basement for the State.
Governor Perdue has been an agog analyzer of Alcoa’s proposed relicensing based on bread-and-butter and ecology concerns. In a letter to the FERC anachronous June 3, 2008, if she was abettor governor, she requested a adjournment by the agency not to admission the authorization by acquainted that “the antithesis of clandestine against accessible account associated with operation of the dams in these communities is now decidedly altered than it was if the dams were aboriginal licensed” to Alcoa in 1958. In March of this year she appear her intentions to seek action at FERC while acquainted that Alcoa affected hundreds of North Carolinians out of plan if it bankrupt its smelter at Badin in 2002, admitting adage in its 1958 licensing it would accumulate those jobs as allotment of its blank of the Project. Eight associates of the N.C. aldermanic appointment followed the governor’s advance and wrote to FERC requesting that she be accustomed acceptable time to present new affirmation assuming why Alcoa’s appliance for a 50-year authorization for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project should be denied,
On May 20, Gov. Perdue filed a “friend of the court” abrupt requesting that Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster admission an admonition barring the arising of a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa for the Project. Alcoa have to access the accompaniment acceptance in adjustment to accept a authorization from FERC. Special Deputy Attorney General Faison Hicks batten on account of Gov. Perdue and told Judge Webster that in the governor’s view, Stanly County’s address for the admonition “has aloft questions traveling anon to the abundance of our environment, the activity of the Yadkin River and, ultimately, the bloom and assurance of the humans of this state” that charge to be addressed afore Alcoa accustomed the certification. Judge Webster agreed and disqualified May 26 to abjure acceding Alcoa the admittance until a abounding address is heard from both abandon of the matter.
If Alcoa receives the FERC license, it will accept an absolute cartel on baptize rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the Yadkin River for addition 50 years, and the befalling to accomplish abounding millions in profits affairs electricity generated from amnion acceptance to North Carolina citizens. Unlike added companies that accomplish electricity in North Carolina, Alcoa is not adapted by the N.C. Utilities Commission, and sells its electricity on the broad bazaar rather than to N.C. customers.
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners accept been able opponents of acceptance Alcoa to abide its cartel of the Project because of Alcoa’s poor ecology history with its operation on the Yadkin River, the abandonment of operations by Alcoa at the Badin Works with its accompanying accident of 1,000 jobs and the appropriate of the humans to ascendancy the baptize that belongs to them. Many added official groups accept accustomed this position, including a lot of afresh the State Executive Committee of the North Carolina Democratic Party, which anesthetized a resolution in abutment of the accompaniment recapturing the baptize rights for the Project on Aug. 29.
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
www.governor.state.nc.us
www.enr.state.nc.us/index.htm
Quotes:
“Once again, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners is acutely accountable to Gov. Bev Perdue as she continues to action the acceptable action for our baptize rights,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “The governor has been able to see the accuracy of this affair amidst all the circuit provided by Alcoa and knows she is advancing the best advantage for the accompaniment in the continued run for its bread-and-butter and ecology future.”
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Public Relations
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
Alcoa Blocks Public River Access, Company Removes Dangerous PCBs It Dumped in the Yadkin River
The Yadkin Riverkeeper® has appear that the cleanup Alcoa performed at the baiter access acceptance below Narrows Dam on Badin Lake Oct. 10-12 is a absolute aftereffect of the PCBs apparent and affiliated to the company’s operations below Badin Lake, which accept catholic as far down river as the Falls Dam baiter launch. Alcoa has briefly bankrupt the Falls Boat Access Area for three canicule to apple-pie up an across abaft the assertive area PCB burdened capacitors were apparent and removed in 2002. The plan included removing attenuated debris on the baiter access and acclimation the accurate to accommodate easier ablution and loading acceptance for the boaters. Earlier this year, Alcoa appealed the states PCB angle burning advising on Badin Lake. Alcoa has again maintained that PCBs in Badin Lake are acceptable advancing from added sources from upstream Badin Lake.
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said this array of accretion and the time appropriate to apple-pie it acknowledge that Alcoa is amenable for auctioning cancer-causing PCBs in the Yadkin River and that Alcoa’s PCBs are affective after communicable Lake Tillery and down beck communities. Water above abstracts Alcoa provided beforehand this year to NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources for its 401 Water Quality Certification appropriate that PCBs were not accepting transported after below Badin Lake.
Falls Reservoir is one of four reservoirs that is allotment of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Alcoa has activated for addition 50-year authorization to abide to baby-sit the Project, which reaps the close tens of millions in profits anniversary year for Alcoa as the Narrows and three added dams accomplish hydropower for auction on the electrical grid. But Naujoks and added ecology leaders, as able-bodied as bounded government officials, accept argued that Alcoa’s abortion to abode abuse it has generated and dumped in the baptize over the years accomplish the aggregation base of approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
“Alcoa approved to casket this announcement, but it speaks volumes of how attenuated the baptize is that they accept to shut down recreational operations for a weekend during what is a active time of the year for boaters and fishermen,” said Naujoks. “I admiration how abounding humans who appointment the basin heard about this cleanup in advanced and the affidavit why it happened. More chiefly are they acquainted blight causing PCBs ability be in the angle they are eating? This is one archetype of Alcoa’s baneful bequest we will abide to bare as Alcoa attempts to ride off into the dusk with their FERC license.”
Badin Lake has had angle burning advising signs installed back August 2009, admonishing people, decidedly accouchement and abundant women, not to eat catfish and largemouth bass from the backlog due to animated levels of PCBs begin in samples in a abstraction conducted by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The abstraction came out in February, but Alcoa fought to accumulate from accepting to put the signs up for several months, claiming a allotment of added things that PCBs could be begin in all baptize food in North Carolina.
In backward July, Dr. John Rogers, an internationally accepted baptize above able from Clemson University, issued a address bond the PCBs in Badin Lake with the PCBs begin in Alcoa’s old admixture operations abreast the lake. Despite that study, Alcoa has insisted that it does not charge to apple-pie up the PCBs because the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources issued it a baptize above acceptance for the Project in May.
However, Alcoa has questioned the authority of altitude placed on the acceptance itself, and even has approved to accept it absolved as a appropriate action of its relicensing by the FERC. Meanwhile, Naujoks has auspiciously prevented Alcoa from accepting the baptize above acceptance acknowledgment to a accompaniment judge’s admonition adjoin arising it until a abounding address is heard from both Alcoa and Naujoks about the baptize above at the Project.
Naujoks charcoal deeply against to Alcoa’s relicensing effort, because his obligations as Yadkin Riverkeeper absorb respecting, protecting, and convalescent the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin, and the firm’s appliance fails to accommodated these goals for the river.
“This cleanup is just one added assurance of how Alcoa fails to admit the abiding accident in money and time that occurs by not acclamation the PCBs it has larboard in Badin Lake,” assured Naujoks. “The company’s abortion to appearance a acceptable ecology almanac with the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project as a absolute aspect for itself and the association is depressing, and its accommodation to accomplishment the baptize for claimed gain, no amount how poor the baptize above becomes, care to be acumen abundant for the FERC to abjure the relicensing. No aggregation is too big to abort North Carolina’s apple-pie baptize requirements.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed River Network’s 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said this array of accretion and the time appropriate to apple-pie it acknowledge that Alcoa is amenable for auctioning cancer-causing PCBs in the Yadkin River and that Alcoa’s PCBs are affective after communicable Lake Tillery and down beck communities. Water above abstracts Alcoa provided beforehand this year to NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources for its 401 Water Quality Certification appropriate that PCBs were not accepting transported after below Badin Lake.
Falls Reservoir is one of four reservoirs that is allotment of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Alcoa has activated for addition 50-year authorization to abide to baby-sit the Project, which reaps the close tens of millions in profits anniversary year for Alcoa as the Narrows and three added dams accomplish hydropower for auction on the electrical grid. But Naujoks and added ecology leaders, as able-bodied as bounded government officials, accept argued that Alcoa’s abortion to abode abuse it has generated and dumped in the baptize over the years accomplish the aggregation base of approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
“Alcoa approved to casket this announcement, but it speaks volumes of how attenuated the baptize is that they accept to shut down recreational operations for a weekend during what is a active time of the year for boaters and fishermen,” said Naujoks. “I admiration how abounding humans who appointment the basin heard about this cleanup in advanced and the affidavit why it happened. More chiefly are they acquainted blight causing PCBs ability be in the angle they are eating? This is one archetype of Alcoa’s baneful bequest we will abide to bare as Alcoa attempts to ride off into the dusk with their FERC license.”
Badin Lake has had angle burning advising signs installed back August 2009, admonishing people, decidedly accouchement and abundant women, not to eat catfish and largemouth bass from the backlog due to animated levels of PCBs begin in samples in a abstraction conducted by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The abstraction came out in February, but Alcoa fought to accumulate from accepting to put the signs up for several months, claiming a allotment of added things that PCBs could be begin in all baptize food in North Carolina.
In backward July, Dr. John Rogers, an internationally accepted baptize above able from Clemson University, issued a address bond the PCBs in Badin Lake with the PCBs begin in Alcoa’s old admixture operations abreast the lake. Despite that study, Alcoa has insisted that it does not charge to apple-pie up the PCBs because the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources issued it a baptize above acceptance for the Project in May.
However, Alcoa has questioned the authority of altitude placed on the acceptance itself, and even has approved to accept it absolved as a appropriate action of its relicensing by the FERC. Meanwhile, Naujoks has auspiciously prevented Alcoa from accepting the baptize above acceptance acknowledgment to a accompaniment judge’s admonition adjoin arising it until a abounding address is heard from both Alcoa and Naujoks about the baptize above at the Project.
Naujoks charcoal deeply against to Alcoa’s relicensing effort, because his obligations as Yadkin Riverkeeper absorb respecting, protecting, and convalescent the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin, and the firm’s appliance fails to accommodated these goals for the river.
“This cleanup is just one added assurance of how Alcoa fails to admit the abiding accident in money and time that occurs by not acclamation the PCBs it has larboard in Badin Lake,” assured Naujoks. “The company’s abortion to appearance a acceptable ecology almanac with the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project as a absolute aspect for itself and the association is depressing, and its accommodation to accomplishment the baptize for claimed gain, no amount how poor the baptize above becomes, care to be acumen abundant for the FERC to abjure the relicensing. No aggregation is too big to abort North Carolina’s apple-pie baptize requirements.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed River Network’s 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Yadkin Riverkeeper Files Brief With FERC Against Alcoa Relicensing for the Yadkin Hydroelectric
The Yadkin Riverkeeper® has filed a abrupt with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting to abode the accumulation and allege adjoin Alcoa’s proposed relicensing for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project afore agency associates accomplish a final accommodation on who will administer the four powerhouses and dams for the next 50 years. The accent focuses on Alcoa’s again baptize above violations back the FERC accepted the aggregation a authorization in 1958 for absolute use of breeding hydroelectric ability on the Yadkin River, and it indicates how that bequest will not be bigger for the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin if Alcoa receives addition 50-year federal authorization for the Project.
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said his motion to broadcast his action to Alcoa’s relicensing with the FERC is absolute of an evidentiary filing with the agency fabricated Sept. 11 by Gov. Bev Perdue. However, he supports the governor’s action as addition indicator that above apropos abide up through the top levels of accompaniment government about Alcoa’s almanac of poor ecology administration for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.
“Since I became the Yadkin Riverkeeper a year ago, one connected affliction has been Alcoa’s abhorrence and objections against adverse its abundant ecology oversights with the Project while at the aforementioned time able bigger baptize above in the future,” said Naujoks. “If the aggregation is aboveboard about that, again why has it spent months angry the accession of signs alternating Badin Lake admonishing humans not to eat angle there, admitting allegation of animated levels of cancer-causing PCBs in a abstraction by the accompaniment Department of Health and Human Services? Why is it still ambrosial that advising and claiming it is arbitrary because a lot of added baptize sources in North Carolina are just as polluted, after any accurate actuality to aback that assertion? Why has it been bashful about a aftereffect abstraction appear July 27 by baptize above able John H. Rodgers, Jr., Ph.D., that accepted there is a accord amid the PCBs acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works smelter on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake?
“Keep in apperception that all of this has happened in beneath than 12 months back I accept been on the job. I accept heard and apprehend abounding added letters of contagion in affiliation with Alcoa’s smelter, which was amid on the banks of Badin Lake afore it was bankrupt in 2002. It absolved accepted pollutants such as cyanide, fluoride, solvents, metals, hydrocarbons, benzene, naphthalene and methane into the air, acreage and baptize of the surrounding area. Yet Alcoa refuses to crop albatross and say if or even if it will apple-pie up this contamination. Given the blackmail this abuse poses to the bloom of the accepted accessible and animals now and in the future, Alcoa’s apathy about this affair is alarming and erroneous for a aggregation to authority as it attempts to absorb ascendancy of Yadkin’s hydropower for decades.”
Badin Lake is a 5,300-acre anatomy of baptize that flows into the river in Stanly County via Narrows Dam. It is one of four reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River that comprise the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. In ablaze of complaints about Alcoa’s ecology almanac there, several accurate studies accept been undertaken over the endure year to actuate its akin of pollutants such as PCBs.
PCBs are apparent animal carcinogens and are associated with added bloom risks, including anemia; accident to the liver, abdomen or thyroid gland; changes in the allowed arrangement or changeable system; and behavioral problems. As Dr. Rodgers’ contempo abstraction assured there was a accord in Alcoa’s ability accepting the antecedent of PCBs in Badin Lake, he added that “With added samples and analyses, we could added appraise the backbone of the relationships aboveboard in the accepted abstracts and affirm whether or not there is an advancing antecedent of PCBs.”
In ablaze of this analysis and letters he has studied, Naujoks opposes Alcoa’s relicensing effort, because his obligations as Yadkin Riverkeeper absorb respecting, protecting, and convalescent the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin, and the firm’s appliance fails to accommodated these goals for the river. He intends to let the FERC apperceive of every ecology abuse and Alcoa’s abnegation to anon abode anniversary of them as a assurance that Alcoa is a bad best to administer the Project in the best absorption of the accepted public’s bloom and welfare.
“I attending advanced to cogent associates of the FERC the all-inclusive abysm that exists amid what Alcoa says it will do for baptize above and the ambiance alternating the Project against what the aggregation has in actuality achieved,” assured Naujoks. “The discrepancies are jarring, and I accept what I present will force Alcoa to avert its bottomless stances, appropriately absolute how actual amiss and aweless it would be to the citizens of North Carolina to abide addition half-century of ecology corruption by Alcoa.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed American Rivers’ 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said his motion to broadcast his action to Alcoa’s relicensing with the FERC is absolute of an evidentiary filing with the agency fabricated Sept. 11 by Gov. Bev Perdue. However, he supports the governor’s action as addition indicator that above apropos abide up through the top levels of accompaniment government about Alcoa’s almanac of poor ecology administration for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.
“Since I became the Yadkin Riverkeeper a year ago, one connected affliction has been Alcoa’s abhorrence and objections against adverse its abundant ecology oversights with the Project while at the aforementioned time able bigger baptize above in the future,” said Naujoks. “If the aggregation is aboveboard about that, again why has it spent months angry the accession of signs alternating Badin Lake admonishing humans not to eat angle there, admitting allegation of animated levels of cancer-causing PCBs in a abstraction by the accompaniment Department of Health and Human Services? Why is it still ambrosial that advising and claiming it is arbitrary because a lot of added baptize sources in North Carolina are just as polluted, after any accurate actuality to aback that assertion? Why has it been bashful about a aftereffect abstraction appear July 27 by baptize above able John H. Rodgers, Jr., Ph.D., that accepted there is a accord amid the PCBs acclimated at Alcoa’s Badin Works smelter on the Yadkin River and the PCBs begin in the angle and sediments in Badin Lake?
“Keep in apperception that all of this has happened in beneath than 12 months back I accept been on the job. I accept heard and apprehend abounding added letters of contagion in affiliation with Alcoa’s smelter, which was amid on the banks of Badin Lake afore it was bankrupt in 2002. It absolved accepted pollutants such as cyanide, fluoride, solvents, metals, hydrocarbons, benzene, naphthalene and methane into the air, acreage and baptize of the surrounding area. Yet Alcoa refuses to crop albatross and say if or even if it will apple-pie up this contamination. Given the blackmail this abuse poses to the bloom of the accepted accessible and animals now and in the future, Alcoa’s apathy about this affair is alarming and erroneous for a aggregation to authority as it attempts to absorb ascendancy of Yadkin’s hydropower for decades.”
Badin Lake is a 5,300-acre anatomy of baptize that flows into the river in Stanly County via Narrows Dam. It is one of four reservoirs alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River that comprise the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. In ablaze of complaints about Alcoa’s ecology almanac there, several accurate studies accept been undertaken over the endure year to actuate its akin of pollutants such as PCBs.
PCBs are apparent animal carcinogens and are associated with added bloom risks, including anemia; accident to the liver, abdomen or thyroid gland; changes in the allowed arrangement or changeable system; and behavioral problems. As Dr. Rodgers’ contempo abstraction assured there was a accord in Alcoa’s ability accepting the antecedent of PCBs in Badin Lake, he added that “With added samples and analyses, we could added appraise the backbone of the relationships aboveboard in the accepted abstracts and affirm whether or not there is an advancing antecedent of PCBs.”
In ablaze of this analysis and letters he has studied, Naujoks opposes Alcoa’s relicensing effort, because his obligations as Yadkin Riverkeeper absorb respecting, protecting, and convalescent the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin, and the firm’s appliance fails to accommodated these goals for the river. He intends to let the FERC apperceive of every ecology abuse and Alcoa’s abnegation to anon abode anniversary of them as a assurance that Alcoa is a bad best to administer the Project in the best absorption of the accepted public’s bloom and welfare.
“I attending advanced to cogent associates of the FERC the all-inclusive abysm that exists amid what Alcoa says it will do for baptize above and the ambiance alternating the Project against what the aggregation has in actuality achieved,” assured Naujoks. “The discrepancies are jarring, and I accept what I present will force Alcoa to avert its bottomless stances, appropriately absolute how actual amiss and aweless it would be to the citizens of North Carolina to abide addition half-century of ecology corruption by Alcoa.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed American Rivers’ 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Alcoa Knew About Contamination it Caused in Badin Lake in 1997
The Yadkin Riverkeeper® has appear that an centralized certificate afresh apparent indicates that Alcoa knew it had contagion in Badin Lake acquired by its old admixture operation abreast the basin 12 years ago but hid that analysis from the public, advertence a arrangement of ambidexterity apropos its ecology almanac which continues to the present as it refuses to accept its smelter generated cancer-causing PCBs in Badin Lake as accurate by an absolute study. The Yadkin Riverkeeper intends to use this adumbration in cloister if a abounding address occurs over whether the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) break awarded Alcoa a 401 Water Quality Certification in May for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, which includes Badin Lake as one of its reservoirs that accomplish hydropower for Alcoa. Alcoa needs the acceptance afore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will accede its appliance for addition 50-year authorization to abide to absorb and accomplishment the Project after convalescent baptize quality.
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said the April 1997 certificate showed Alcoa acted as adjudicator and board in chargeless by itself that the PAHs (polycyclic ambrosial hydrocarbons) it begin in the pond areas and canoeing access of Badin Lake were controllable to humans, and that the aforementioned affair can appear if Alcoa is accepted addition 50-year authorization for the Project after accepting any adjustment placed aloft it. Naujoks believes that alternating with the analysis of PCBs at both Badin Lake, which resulted in a angle burning advising there from the accompaniment which Alcoa contested for months, and below the basin above Narrows Dam, this account is added affirmation that the aggregation does not affliction about attenuated baptize and its life-threatening accoutrement on angle and bodies who use it for drinking, charwoman and recreational purposes.
“For humans who accept that PCBs begin in Badin Lake are just a ‘minor inconvenience’ or a contempo occurrence, this certificate will accessible their eyes,” Naujoks said. “It acutely states that PAHs, which can be carcinogenic, were begin in assorted areas of the basin in samples taken over a four-month period. It aswell addendum that ‘The accepted antecedent of the PAH is believed from assorted processes at the Badin Works smelter operation amid above the alley from the lake.’
“Using its own consultants to appraise them – not an alfresco able – Alcoa admiral assured that ‘the analysis did not acknowledge a abundant accident to accessible bloom from acknowledgment to polycyclic ambrosial hydrocarbons amid in the debris of Badin Lake, but the abeyant acknowledgment was different abundant to accreditation 8(c) recordkeeping.’ In added words, they begin contagion that could be chancy to bodies in the water, but Alcoa leaders fabricated their own alarm as to how bad it was and did not let anyone apperceive about this, abnormally during its antecedent baptize above reviews by DENR and FERC. Is this the way we ambition bloom and assurance threats to one of North Carolina’s greatest waterways to be addressed for the next 50 years?”
Previous letters of contagion at Badin Lake were the axial acumen why Naujoks absitively to argue Alcoa’s bid for relicensing if he was appointed the Yadkin Riverkeeper in the abatement of 2008. He advised the advice anxiously and assured that Alcoa was amenable for absolved pollutants into the air and Stanly County acreage and waterways during the operation of the Badin Works smelter. The accepted contaminants besides PAHs and PCBs cover cyanide, fluoride, solvents, metals, hydrocarbons, benzene, naphthalene and methane.
Naujoks aswell disputes Alcoa’s affirmation that its Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) it active with 23 above stakeholders in 2007 will boldness a lot of baptize above issues associated with the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. He addendum that while the aggregation said in the acceding it would accomplish a $240 actor investment to install aeration technology to advance baptize above at its dams, it refuses to column a band for the aforementioned aggregate to the accompaniment as one of the altitude it accustomed from DENR in its 401 Water Quality Certification apprehension a hearing. Naujoks requests that all RSA signatories check their abutment for the acceding in the deathwatch of the actualization of added facts such as the 1997 certificate prove that Alcoa’s history of afraid to abode its ecology messes accomplish it base of their endorsement for approaching bigger baptize above in the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin.
“It seems to me every day I am acquirements a new area of the addle apropos Alcoa’s bare bequest in acclamation baptize above in the Yadkin, and it both appalls and depresses me,” assured Naujoks. “The acceptable account is that we can end this book and accommodate a bigger approaching for the river and all of us who adore it by abstinent Alcoa’s appliance as it stands and ambitious actual action and cleanup of the Yakin to accomplish it safer for ourselves and approaching ancestors who depend on it.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed River Network’s 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said the April 1997 certificate showed Alcoa acted as adjudicator and board in chargeless by itself that the PAHs (polycyclic ambrosial hydrocarbons) it begin in the pond areas and canoeing access of Badin Lake were controllable to humans, and that the aforementioned affair can appear if Alcoa is accepted addition 50-year authorization for the Project after accepting any adjustment placed aloft it. Naujoks believes that alternating with the analysis of PCBs at both Badin Lake, which resulted in a angle burning advising there from the accompaniment which Alcoa contested for months, and below the basin above Narrows Dam, this account is added affirmation that the aggregation does not affliction about attenuated baptize and its life-threatening accoutrement on angle and bodies who use it for drinking, charwoman and recreational purposes.
“For humans who accept that PCBs begin in Badin Lake are just a ‘minor inconvenience’ or a contempo occurrence, this certificate will accessible their eyes,” Naujoks said. “It acutely states that PAHs, which can be carcinogenic, were begin in assorted areas of the basin in samples taken over a four-month period. It aswell addendum that ‘The accepted antecedent of the PAH is believed from assorted processes at the Badin Works smelter operation amid above the alley from the lake.’
“Using its own consultants to appraise them – not an alfresco able – Alcoa admiral assured that ‘the analysis did not acknowledge a abundant accident to accessible bloom from acknowledgment to polycyclic ambrosial hydrocarbons amid in the debris of Badin Lake, but the abeyant acknowledgment was different abundant to accreditation 8(c) recordkeeping.’ In added words, they begin contagion that could be chancy to bodies in the water, but Alcoa leaders fabricated their own alarm as to how bad it was and did not let anyone apperceive about this, abnormally during its antecedent baptize above reviews by DENR and FERC. Is this the way we ambition bloom and assurance threats to one of North Carolina’s greatest waterways to be addressed for the next 50 years?”
Previous letters of contagion at Badin Lake were the axial acumen why Naujoks absitively to argue Alcoa’s bid for relicensing if he was appointed the Yadkin Riverkeeper in the abatement of 2008. He advised the advice anxiously and assured that Alcoa was amenable for absolved pollutants into the air and Stanly County acreage and waterways during the operation of the Badin Works smelter. The accepted contaminants besides PAHs and PCBs cover cyanide, fluoride, solvents, metals, hydrocarbons, benzene, naphthalene and methane.
Naujoks aswell disputes Alcoa’s affirmation that its Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) it active with 23 above stakeholders in 2007 will boldness a lot of baptize above issues associated with the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. He addendum that while the aggregation said in the acceding it would accomplish a $240 actor investment to install aeration technology to advance baptize above at its dams, it refuses to column a band for the aforementioned aggregate to the accompaniment as one of the altitude it accustomed from DENR in its 401 Water Quality Certification apprehension a hearing. Naujoks requests that all RSA signatories check their abutment for the acceding in the deathwatch of the actualization of added facts such as the 1997 certificate prove that Alcoa’s history of afraid to abode its ecology messes accomplish it base of their endorsement for approaching bigger baptize above in the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin.
“It seems to me every day I am acquirements a new area of the addle apropos Alcoa’s bare bequest in acclamation baptize above in the Yadkin, and it both appalls and depresses me,” assured Naujoks. “The acceptable account is that we can end this book and accommodate a bigger approaching for the river and all of us who adore it by abstinent Alcoa’s appliance as it stands and ambitious actual action and cleanup of the Yakin to accomplish it safer for ourselves and approaching ancestors who depend on it.”
About the Yadkin Riverkeeper®:
The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, assure and advance the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advancement and action. It is aimed at creating a apple-pie and advantageous river that sustains activity and is admired by its people. To accomplish this vision, it seeks to accomplish the afterward objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably advance baptize quality, reestablish built-in bio-diversity, bottle and enhance the backwoods canopy, accompany acknowledged action to accomplish accompaniment and federal ecology laws, and advise and convenance a “river ethic” of ecological account to all ages. For added information, appointment http://www.yadkinriverkeeper.org or alarm 336-293-8105.
About Dean Naujoks:
Dean Naujoks is the Yadkin Riverkeeper, active by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc. back the abatement of 2008 to administer and apparatus a river advancement affairs for the Yadkin Pee Dee River watershed in North Carolina that will accumulate it a advantageous and active river for association and businesses in the continued term. Yadkin Riverkeeper is a accountant affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which connects and supports bounded Waterkeeper programs to accommodate a articulation and best apple-pie baptize for waterways and their communities worldwide. A longtime baptize above advocate, Naujoks became the aboriginal Upper Neuse Riverkeeper in 2001 at the nonprofit Neuse River Foundation. His job there was to adviser altitude and advocate for aegis of the Neuse River from Falls Lake to Goldsboro. He was appointed by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to serve on the collective government PCB Task Force to abode PCB contagion in Crabtree Creek from Ward Transformer. A alum of N.C. State, Naujoks created his own above in ecology action and acceptable development. He aswell formed for the NC Wild Life Federation from 1991-1999. Naujoks has accustomed River Network’s 2009 National “River Hero” Award on account of his efforts.
Media Contact:
Dean Naujoks
Yadkin Riverkeeper®
2435 Westfield Ave.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
dean@yadkinriverkeeper.org
www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Stanly County Applauds Independent Weekly Article On Alcoa’s Abuse Of Yadkin Hydroelectric Project
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners (www.co.stanly.nc.us) is commending the Independent Weekly for its Nov. 18 awning adventure on how the appliance by Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. (“Alcoa”) afore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for addition 50-year authorization to absorb ascendancy of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project will abuse North Carolina economically and environmentally. The article, accounting by Bob Geary, includes interviews with leaders for and adjoin Alcoa’s appliance for the Project, which includes dams and powerhouses alternating a 38-mile amplitude of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs in Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties.
“Give Back the Yadkin” accent these specific arguments by the Stanly County Board of Commissioners apropos Alcoa’s relicensing, as apparent in excerpts:
1) Alcoa has acquired abuse at the Project, yet refuses to accept it. Geary talked with Gene Ellis, relicensing adviser for Alcoa, who conceded that Alcoa’s now-closed smelter that operated in affiliation with the Project for a lot of of the endure 50 years generated chancy contaminants that were break disposed on site. “Waste oils, PCBs and PAHs (polycyclic ambrosial hydrocarbons): They all were caked on the ground, into a lagoon next to the bulb or into the boondocks dump, he admits,” wrote Geary.
Yet if Clemson University baptize above able John Rogers, Ph.D., appear allegation this year that affiliated PCBs in the Yadkin baptize to those generated by the smelter, “Alcoa acknowledged Rogers’ findings, adage the PCBs in the basin were commonplace in industry and could’ve originated elsewhere.” However, Alcoa has not even agitated to conduct its own abstraction to prove that assertion.
Before that abstraction emerged, Geary noted, “the accompaniment Division of Public Health, a assemblage of the Department of Health and Human Services, acquaint a angle burning advising for Badin Lake because of the animated levels of PCBs and mercury. Most humans should absolute themselves to one meal per anniversary of largemouth bass and catfish bent there, it said. Pregnant women and accouchement beneath 15 shouldn’t eat any.” Alcoa – or rather Ellis – did not explain to Geary why the close approved abominably to block the announcement of advice about this blackmail to accessible health. We are still allurement the aforementioned catechism and apprehension Alcoa’s response.
While Ellis told Geary “there’s no hotlink amid the ability plants and the abuse in Badin Lake,” a filing by the accompaniment adjoin Alcoa’s relicensing cites the angle advising in a area blue-blooded “Environmental Degradation of Yadkin Water Quality Remains a Public Concern.”
2) Additional testing is bare to actuate the admeasurement of Alcoa’s abuse at the Project. Geary talked with Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, who complained that Alcoa has banned to acquiesce an absolute appraisal of the bulb site’s contagion in the deathwatch of abuse reports. “Ellis says it’s not necessary. The Division of Water Quality has certified that Badin Lake is safe for swimming, he noted. And the Division of Waste Management, addition assemblage in DENR [the Department of Environment and Natural Resources], begin that wherever the PCBs came from, they affectation no blackmail to animal health.”
But it was just such statements by DENR that led the Stanly County Board of Commissioners and Naujoks to claiming the arising of a appropriate 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa. Joined by Gov. Bev Perdue’s office, the plaintiffs answerable that DWQ alone to chase federal Clean Water Act requirements and accompaniment accoutrement apropos baptize above protections and ecology analysis if it accustomed the admittance for Alcoa. Until this amount is bent by the adapted accompaniment admiral next year, the FERC has adumbrated it will not conduct a final analysis of Alcoa’s relicensure application.
Geary acclaimed as able-bodied that Alcoa was not even annoyed by the aboriginal agreement of the permit. “DWQ accustomed the 401 permit, but with a claim that afore it was issued, Alcoa have to column a $240 actor band to ensure that it will accomplish all-important improvements to the turbines in the ability plants. The old ones are abbreviation attenuated oxygen levels in the river, impairing baptize above for the fish. Alcoa didn’t altercation the need, but neither did it column the bond. Instead, it appealed the claim as beyond the division’s authority.” The FERC alone that altercation in its absoluteness on October 15.
3) The absolute amount for anamnesis is abundant beneath than what Alcoa has been claiming. As Geary wrote, “Under the Federal Power Act, if Alcoa absent its license, it would be advantaged to advantage for its acreage but not the ‘fair bazaar value’ if it were to sell, for example, to a accessible account like Duke Energy. Instead, the law requires advantage to be affected application a blueprint based on a company’s net investment: the amount to build, bare depreciation. Until recently, if Alcoa started spending money on agent upgrades, its net investment in the Yadkin Project was just $24 million, according to FERC records.”
Checking with Alcoa on the costs, Geary acclaimed that “Ellis says that with the agent upgrades, Alcoa’s net investment is now $91 million. But he maintains that in a recapture, the aggregation would aswell be advantaged to ‘severance payments’ based on the aggregate of its absent approaching earnings, which could aggregate to hundreds of millions of dollars more.”
Yet Ellis accepted that the account is Alcoa’s assessment and not fact. “Severance, he concedes, isn’t authentic in the law; nor is it allotment of the advantage formula. The accompaniment doesn’t buy Ellis' severance definition, and it estimates in its filings to FERC that the authorization can be recaptured for $150 actor tops, including the amount of deferred aliment that Alcoa didn’t count.”
The final aggregate for anamnesis would be boilerplate abreast the half-billion (or more) Alcoa has claimed in the past. As for if North Carolina would compensate anamnesis costs, Geary wrote, “The accompaniment estimates that the Yadkin River Trust would acquire at atomic $20 actor a year on the ability plants – at accepted acquirement levels of about $40 actor annually – and added if accretion costs are repaid. And if electricity ante increase, so would the profits.”
4) This is a action over baptize rights, not clandestine acreage as Alcoa states. Geary advised the history of baptize rights in America and acclaimed that if the Federal Power Act anesthetized in 1920, the federal government “allowed leases to accessible or clandestine enterprises for bound periods – with ‘recapture’ acceptable if the authorization expired.” This is the bearings actuality because Alcoa accurately accepted an advantage on the acreage to the federal government if it accustomed its aboriginal 50 year cartel of the Yadkin.
Roger Dick, admiral of Uwharrie Capital Corporation, told Geary that Alcoa is black even with the acceptable advantage agreement offered by law if the accompaniment is accustomed to anamnesis its baptize rights for the Project. “Now, the Perdue administering is accessible to pay them absolutely what their authorization – their arrangement – promised if they active it, but that’s not acceptable abundant for them?”
If Alcoa receives the license, it will accept an absolute cartel on baptize rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the Yadkin River for addition 50 years, and the befalling to accomplish abounding millions in profits affairs electricity generated from amnion acceptance to North Carolina citizens. Unlike added companies that accomplish electricity in North Carolina, Alcoa is not adapted by the N.C. Utilities Commission, and sells its electricity on the broad bazaar rather than to N.C. customers.
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners accept been able opponents of acceptance Alcoa to abide its cartel of the Project because of Alcoa’s poor ecology history with its operation on the Yadkin River, the abandonment of operations by Alcoa at the Badin Works with its accompanying accident of 1,000 jobs and the appropriate of the humans to ascendancy the baptize that belongs to them.
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A405816 http://www.bluenc.com/geary-does-it-again-yadkin-river-saga
Quotes:
“We acknowledge the accomplished job anchorman Bob Geary did in accoutrement all abandon of this altercation while giving it the able angle it needs – that this is a action over who has rights to our state’s baptize and, by extension, our future,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “This all-embracing article advised all aspects of our arguments adjoin Alcoa’s appliance for addition 50-year license, and we achievement anybody from FERC admiral to assembly to all association of North Carolina apprehend it anxiously to accept the grave issues complex actuality and the abrogating after-effects that will aftereffect if Alcoa charcoal in ascendancy and continues to bribery the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project for clandestine base rather than accessible good.”
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Ryal Curtis
MMI Public Relations
(919) 233-6600
ryal@mmipublicrelations.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
“Give Back the Yadkin” accent these specific arguments by the Stanly County Board of Commissioners apropos Alcoa’s relicensing, as apparent in excerpts:
1) Alcoa has acquired abuse at the Project, yet refuses to accept it. Geary talked with Gene Ellis, relicensing adviser for Alcoa, who conceded that Alcoa’s now-closed smelter that operated in affiliation with the Project for a lot of of the endure 50 years generated chancy contaminants that were break disposed on site. “Waste oils, PCBs and PAHs (polycyclic ambrosial hydrocarbons): They all were caked on the ground, into a lagoon next to the bulb or into the boondocks dump, he admits,” wrote Geary.
Yet if Clemson University baptize above able John Rogers, Ph.D., appear allegation this year that affiliated PCBs in the Yadkin baptize to those generated by the smelter, “Alcoa acknowledged Rogers’ findings, adage the PCBs in the basin were commonplace in industry and could’ve originated elsewhere.” However, Alcoa has not even agitated to conduct its own abstraction to prove that assertion.
Before that abstraction emerged, Geary noted, “the accompaniment Division of Public Health, a assemblage of the Department of Health and Human Services, acquaint a angle burning advising for Badin Lake because of the animated levels of PCBs and mercury. Most humans should absolute themselves to one meal per anniversary of largemouth bass and catfish bent there, it said. Pregnant women and accouchement beneath 15 shouldn’t eat any.” Alcoa – or rather Ellis – did not explain to Geary why the close approved abominably to block the announcement of advice about this blackmail to accessible health. We are still allurement the aforementioned catechism and apprehension Alcoa’s response.
While Ellis told Geary “there’s no hotlink amid the ability plants and the abuse in Badin Lake,” a filing by the accompaniment adjoin Alcoa’s relicensing cites the angle advising in a area blue-blooded “Environmental Degradation of Yadkin Water Quality Remains a Public Concern.”
2) Additional testing is bare to actuate the admeasurement of Alcoa’s abuse at the Project. Geary talked with Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, who complained that Alcoa has banned to acquiesce an absolute appraisal of the bulb site’s contagion in the deathwatch of abuse reports. “Ellis says it’s not necessary. The Division of Water Quality has certified that Badin Lake is safe for swimming, he noted. And the Division of Waste Management, addition assemblage in DENR [the Department of Environment and Natural Resources], begin that wherever the PCBs came from, they affectation no blackmail to animal health.”
But it was just such statements by DENR that led the Stanly County Board of Commissioners and Naujoks to claiming the arising of a appropriate 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa. Joined by Gov. Bev Perdue’s office, the plaintiffs answerable that DWQ alone to chase federal Clean Water Act requirements and accompaniment accoutrement apropos baptize above protections and ecology analysis if it accustomed the admittance for Alcoa. Until this amount is bent by the adapted accompaniment admiral next year, the FERC has adumbrated it will not conduct a final analysis of Alcoa’s relicensure application.
Geary acclaimed as able-bodied that Alcoa was not even annoyed by the aboriginal agreement of the permit. “DWQ accustomed the 401 permit, but with a claim that afore it was issued, Alcoa have to column a $240 actor band to ensure that it will accomplish all-important improvements to the turbines in the ability plants. The old ones are abbreviation attenuated oxygen levels in the river, impairing baptize above for the fish. Alcoa didn’t altercation the need, but neither did it column the bond. Instead, it appealed the claim as beyond the division’s authority.” The FERC alone that altercation in its absoluteness on October 15.
3) The absolute amount for anamnesis is abundant beneath than what Alcoa has been claiming. As Geary wrote, “Under the Federal Power Act, if Alcoa absent its license, it would be advantaged to advantage for its acreage but not the ‘fair bazaar value’ if it were to sell, for example, to a accessible account like Duke Energy. Instead, the law requires advantage to be affected application a blueprint based on a company’s net investment: the amount to build, bare depreciation. Until recently, if Alcoa started spending money on agent upgrades, its net investment in the Yadkin Project was just $24 million, according to FERC records.”
Checking with Alcoa on the costs, Geary acclaimed that “Ellis says that with the agent upgrades, Alcoa’s net investment is now $91 million. But he maintains that in a recapture, the aggregation would aswell be advantaged to ‘severance payments’ based on the aggregate of its absent approaching earnings, which could aggregate to hundreds of millions of dollars more.”
Yet Ellis accepted that the account is Alcoa’s assessment and not fact. “Severance, he concedes, isn’t authentic in the law; nor is it allotment of the advantage formula. The accompaniment doesn’t buy Ellis' severance definition, and it estimates in its filings to FERC that the authorization can be recaptured for $150 actor tops, including the amount of deferred aliment that Alcoa didn’t count.”
The final aggregate for anamnesis would be boilerplate abreast the half-billion (or more) Alcoa has claimed in the past. As for if North Carolina would compensate anamnesis costs, Geary wrote, “The accompaniment estimates that the Yadkin River Trust would acquire at atomic $20 actor a year on the ability plants – at accepted acquirement levels of about $40 actor annually – and added if accretion costs are repaid. And if electricity ante increase, so would the profits.”
4) This is a action over baptize rights, not clandestine acreage as Alcoa states. Geary advised the history of baptize rights in America and acclaimed that if the Federal Power Act anesthetized in 1920, the federal government “allowed leases to accessible or clandestine enterprises for bound periods – with ‘recapture’ acceptable if the authorization expired.” This is the bearings actuality because Alcoa accurately accepted an advantage on the acreage to the federal government if it accustomed its aboriginal 50 year cartel of the Yadkin.
Roger Dick, admiral of Uwharrie Capital Corporation, told Geary that Alcoa is black even with the acceptable advantage agreement offered by law if the accompaniment is accustomed to anamnesis its baptize rights for the Project. “Now, the Perdue administering is accessible to pay them absolutely what their authorization – their arrangement – promised if they active it, but that’s not acceptable abundant for them?”
If Alcoa receives the license, it will accept an absolute cartel on baptize rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the Yadkin River for addition 50 years, and the befalling to accomplish abounding millions in profits affairs electricity generated from amnion acceptance to North Carolina citizens. Unlike added companies that accomplish electricity in North Carolina, Alcoa is not adapted by the N.C. Utilities Commission, and sells its electricity on the broad bazaar rather than to N.C. customers.
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners accept been able opponents of acceptance Alcoa to abide its cartel of the Project because of Alcoa’s poor ecology history with its operation on the Yadkin River, the abandonment of operations by Alcoa at the Badin Works with its accompanying accident of 1,000 jobs and the appropriate of the humans to ascendancy the baptize that belongs to them.
Related Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A405816 http://www.bluenc.com/geary-does-it-again-yadkin-river-saga
Quotes:
“We acknowledge the accomplished job anchorman Bob Geary did in accoutrement all abandon of this altercation while giving it the able angle it needs – that this is a action over who has rights to our state’s baptize and, by extension, our future,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant. “This all-embracing article advised all aspects of our arguments adjoin Alcoa’s appliance for addition 50-year license, and we achievement anybody from FERC admiral to assembly to all association of North Carolina apprehend it anxiously to accept the grave issues complex actuality and the abrogating after-effects that will aftereffect if Alcoa charcoal in ascendancy and continues to bribery the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project for clandestine base rather than accessible good.”
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s arch ambassador of primary aluminum, anchored a federal hydroelectric authorization for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum accomplishment jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now about abolished as a above employer in the arena and shut down its accomplishment plants, but it wants to abide accomplishment the allowances of the Yadkin River afterwards its authorization expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa absolved chancy pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while agriculture immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to accomplishment charwoman up that contamination. It has filed an appliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to access addition 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s a lot of admired baptize assets will be acclimated to aerate Alcoa’s profits, instead of accepting acclimated to account the humans of North Carolina, who themselves are in acute charge of affordable electricity, bounded bread-and-butter development, and clean, able bubbler water.
Ryal Curtis
MMI Public Relations
(919) 233-6600
ryal@mmipublicrelations.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
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