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Press Releases

Yadkin Riverkeeper Applauds FERC for Rejecting Alcoa’s Bid to Forgo Clean Water Act Requirements for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project

20-Oct-09 15:39 | Christine Kitchens-Frost
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Yadkin Riverkeeper® has thanked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for denying a filing by Alcoa asking FERC members to exempt the company from the requirements of the Clean Water Act and the 401 Water Quality Certification as part of its relicensing effort for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.  FERC sided with North Carolina in issuing a decision Oct. 15 that the state retains authority to issue the 401 water permit to Alcoa, which is on hold following a successful injunction requested by Yadkin Riverkeeper Inc and Stanly County to prevent the permit’s issuance until a full appeal is heard from both sides about water quality at the Project.  Alcoa must receive this 401 certification before FERC will consider approving its application to exploit the Project for corporate profit over environmental and community needs for the 50-year duration of the license.
 
Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, said had Alcoa’s request been allowed by FERC, Alcoa would have been allowed to pollute the Yadkin River and water flowing through the Project, which consists of four reservoirs, dams and hydropower stations along a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River – without facing penalty for violating Environmental Protection Agency water quality standards. It also would have established a dangerous precedent that would have eroded the states ability (all states) to enforce Clean Water Act protections. “Alco feels they are above the law and do not have to comply with the federal Clean Water Act which has been critical to protecting public health and safe guarding our nations waters for almost 40 years.” Naujoks said. “They should be ashamed of themselves. It is a clear sign Alcoa is getting desperate in their attempt to maintain an exclusive monopoly over public trust waters when they violate the terms of their own RSA.”
 
In the aftermath of this announcement, Naujoks is calling on entities who signed the Relicensing Settlement Agreement in 2007 to review their support of Alcoa’s relicensing request and consider disavowing it because of Alcoa’s blatant efforts to undo decades of clean water protections by a private company. “I am certain that If American Rivers, the Nature Conservancy and the LandTrust for Central NC knew that Alcoa was planning to petition FERC to exempt itself from the federal Clean Water Act they never would have signed the RSA” Naujoks said.
 
American Rivers, who signed the RSA in 2007 before extensive pollution problems linked to Alcoa were discovered, contacted the Governors office and FERC opposing Alcoa’s Petition for Declaratory Order. A clear sign support for Alcoa’s relicensing bid is eroding. NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, who issued Alcoa the 401 Water Quality Certification, expressed similar concerns over Alcoa’s request.
 
“I am grateful that FERC turned down Alcoa’s declaratory order and sided with North Carolina on this issue,” said Naujoks. “It would have created a dangerous national precedent if it allowed Alcoa to disregard and disobey critical Clean Water Act laws and regulations which have greatly improved the water quality in America since they were established 40 years ago.  By taking this action, FERC has emphasized that no corporation is above the law and exempt from the states rights to enforce compliance with water quality standards. FERC’s decision is a big set back for Alcoa and an important victory for Americans who want safe clean water for drinking, swimming and other recreational activities.
 
“If I were one of the groups who are signatories for the RSA, such as American Rivers or the Central LandTrust for NC, I would want Alcoa to explain to me its motives for trying this tactic to avoid following established law.  If company officials cannot – as they have been unable to do so since filing the request a month ago – I think those signatories ought to hold Alcoa accountable for its actions and remove their endorsements of a company that clearly puts profits above the peoples need for clean water.”
 
Alcoa has had years of water quality problems with the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project which it has failed to address, including a recent report that links cancer-causing PCBs found in Badin Lake, a reservoir which is part of the Project, with the PCBs found in Alcoa’s old smelting operations.  The discovery of PCBs by state officials resulted in the posting of fish consumption advisory signs around Badin Lake.  There have been other contaminants found in Badin Lake as well.
 
In addition, Alcoa has had longstanding problems with dissolved oxygen levels in the Yadkin River and extensive pollution problems in High Rock Lake that were created when the company built the Yadkin River Project.  The company has promised to install equipment and perform maintenance to address this problem, but so far has taken no action at the Project.  Alcoa’s critics cite this as one of many examples where APGI has spent more time and effort arguing that it should receive relicensing without a state water quality permit than it has offered concrete solutions to cleaning contamination it generates in its reservoirs.
 
The FERC ruling means that the governing body did not agree with Alcoa’s claims that the N.C. Division of Water Quality’s 401 water quality certification issued to APGI in May (now on hold due to the Yadkin Riverkeeper’s injunction) was incomplete and thus no longer valid because it requires further action by Alcoa for it to become effective, such as requiring Alcoa to pay a $240 million surety bond for the Project.  That amount was the exact same amount Alcoa claimed it would pay in the RSA if it earned relicensing from the FERC, yet the company argued it was unfair for the state to ask for the payment to be guaranteed.  Although Alcoa wrote in its filing that “There is neither a legal requirement nor a compelling justification to delay action on the license any longer,” FERC members felt otherwise.
 
“This decision by FERC is a very encouraging sign on many levels,” concluded Naujoks.  “It reaffirmed the basic review process for federal water projects, it respected the rights of the state of North Carolina, and it taught Alcoa that it is not above the law.  I thank FERC again for their wise consideration of the facts.”

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