RALEIGH, N.C. – The N.C. House
Water Resources and Infrastructure Committee conducted a second hearing on July
14 on Senate Bill 967 (Creation of Yadkin River Trust). The legislation would allow the state to
acquire and operate the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project as opposed to Alcoa Power
Generating Inc. (“Alcoa”), which has applied for a 50-year federal license to
monopolize control of and exploit the water and hydroelectric power generated
by North Carolina’s Yadkin River. The Project includes dams and powerhouses
along a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls
Reservoirs in Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly
counties.
Once
again, more than 100 citizens from Anson, Davie,
Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, Stanly, Davidson, Cabarrus and
Rowan counties attended the meeting in support of the legislation. Senator Fletcher Hartsell
(R-Cabarrus), a primary sponsor of SB 967, reminded the committee members of
the importance of the legislation and the fact that SB 967 has “absolutely
nothing to do with taking over a private business.” Senator Hartsell also refuted Alcoa’s claims about
the cost of recapturing the license and provided committee members with copies
of Alcoa’s license application stating that the re-purchase price is $24.16
million.
Gene
Ellis, a spokesman for Alcoa, again read prepared remarks to the
committee. His remarks included the
outrageous claim that Alcoa had not opposed the posting of “Fish Consumption
Advisory” at Badin
Lake. In response, Bruce Thompson,
a lobbyist for Stanly
County, showed the
committee a copy of the legal filing Alcoa made on April 9, 2009, that challenged the posting of
these signs. According to Thompson,
challenging the posting of the warnings was “fundamentally irresponsible,
especially in light of the fact that scientists have traced the PCBs in the
fish directly to the lake sediments adjacent to Alcoa’s operations.”
Committee
Chair Cullie Tarleton (D-Watauga) then called upon Faison Hicks, the Special
Deputy Attorney General representing Governor Bev Perdue in the relicensing
case before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). Hicks stated that “the Yadkin River’s
hydroelectric generating potential, its capacity to function now and in the
future as a robust economic development engine for the region’s people, its
capacity for supplying the people of the region with water, its recreational
and aesthetic resources and its many other invaluable properties should be
harnessed and carefully used for the public benefit,” not for an unregulated
company that provides no benefit to the State.
Professor Richard Whisnant of the UNC School of
Government also made a presentation to the committee, pointing out that water
related decisions might differ significantly depending on whether Alcoa or the
Yadkin River Trust held the hydro license.
Professor Whisnant focused on five issues that would
be affected by who holds the license: (1) operational discretion; (2) adaptive
management; (3) charges for water withdrawals; (4) scope and pace of property
cleanup; and (5) the licensee as a stakeholder in river-basin issues generally.
Chairman
Tarleton then called on questions from committee members. In response to the questions, Senator Hartsell assured
the committee that the legislation is aimed only at this project and would not
apply to any utility providers currently regulated by the State as those
companies provide great benefits to the citizens of the State. Senator Hartsell also pointed the committee
to Alcoa’s relicensing application where it acknowledged the right of the
federal government to have the license returned.
Senate
Bill 967 will establish a Trust for the benefit of the entire state that would
develop, sell and distribute hydroelectricity generated by the Project for the
benefit of the people of North
Carolina, as well as maintain recreational facilities
and ensure equitable distribution of water for public purposes at all
times. The
Trust will honor aspects of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA)
negotiated by local government and environmental groups in 2008, including
water for the City of Albemarle,
a comprehensive drought management plan (the “Low Inflow Protocol”), water
quality improvements for the Yadkin, and new and expanded public recreation
facilities. It will provide more
benefits to state residents than Alcoa’s plan, including priority
consideration to local needs, with the intent of restoring and improving
environmental, public health, economic and job considerations.
Related
Links:
www.co.stanly.nc.us
http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2009&BillID=H1455
http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2009&BillID=S967
Quotes:
“Fifty
years ago, Alcoa received a no-bid contract to operate hydroelectric facilities
on the Yadkin River for 50 years. That operating license was issued on behalf
of the people of the Yadkin River basin and the State of North Carolina and that license has
expired. It has been so long that we
have forgotten that Alcoa is our tenant, and the tenant would have us forget
that we are the landlord,” said state Sen. Fletcher
L. Hartsell,
Jr. (R – Cabarrus). “The lease is up
and it is time for the waters of the Yadkin to be returned to the benefit of
the citizens.”
“On
behalf of the Stanly County Board of Commissioners, we were glad to hear
leaders in the legislature endorse the Yadkin River Trust for water access and
water quality,” said Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey
Dunevant. “Their comments
show that they get it – the Yadkin
River is a public water
resource that is being neglected by the Project’s current operator in favor of
selfish interests rather than the betterment of our state, and that this must
change.”
About
This Effort:
In
1958, Alcoa, the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum, secured a
federal hydroelectric license for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River
in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery
and Rowan Counties
in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum
manufacturing jobs for Stanly
County for years to
come. Alcoa has now essentially
disappeared as a major employer in the region and shut down its manufacturing
plants, but it wants to continue reaping the benefits of the Yadkin River
after its license expires in April of
this year. In addition, Alcoa discharged
hazardous pollutants into North Carolina air
and waterways for decades while harvesting immense profits from the Yadkin River,
but has yet to finish cleaning up that contamination. It has filed an application with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to obtain another 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North
Carolina’s most valuable water resources will be used to maximize Alcoa’s
profits, instead of being used to benefit the people of North Carolina, who
themselves are in dire need of affordable electricity, local economic
development, and clean, adequate drinking water.