Alcoa’s One-Year License From the FERC: An Opportunity for the State

When Alcoa declared May 5 it received an annual license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Yadkin Project, it conveyed the idea that this merely was just another step towards its final goal – receiving a 50-year license for exclusive water rights for the Yadkin Project from the FERC. This might be the case, but it also is the case that the delay in receiving a new license provides North Carolina with an opportunity that might otherwise have been lost.

The fact is that several obstacles exist before the FERC grants a new, 50-year license for the Project, which covers the Yadkin River and its lakes and tributaries in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan counties in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina. We, the members of the North Carolina Water Rights Coalition, urge you to keep in mind these considerations regarding Alcoa and the Yadkin Project:

  • Alcoa had wanted the 50-year license granted as soon as their current 50-year license for the Yadkin Project expired at the end of April. Previous statements by Alcoa indicate it expected the 50-year license to be granted swiftly. For example, Gene Ellis, Alcoa’s local licensing and property manager, told The Kannapolis Independent-Tribune on Nov. 16, 2007 how he was glad the relicensing process was “nearing the end.” Alcoa engaged in a long and wearing “settlement” process as part of its licensing process but neither process satisfactorily answered questions about its termination of the industrial operations, leaving hundreds of people unemployed as it ended its smelting operations, failing to fully study and report how much environmental damage its Yadkin operations had generated over decades and its cleanup costs, and particularly using the Yadkin, a public water resource, solely as a monopoly for its financial benefit.

    These concerns prompted a request by Governor Mike Easley to the FERC to delay a decision one year while the state conducts additional analyses on the Yadkin Project. Also, Stanly, Davidson, Randolph and Iredell counties, as well as the Centralina Council of Governments, the state-designated lead regional organization for the area in and around Charlotte, have raised objections to the exclusive control of the Project by an out-of-state, international corporation like Alcoa. The FERC has had copies of these requests sent to them and thus is aware of the dissatisfaction in the State.
  • Alcoa Needs a water quality certificate from The North Carolina Division of Water Quality (DWQ) to obtain a license from FERC. The DWQ announced April 17 it had failed to publish a required legal notice allowing for two weeks of public comments regarding the certificate, prior to the time it was granted in November 2007. DWQ revoked the certificate and allowed for parties to submit their questions and concerns on the Yadkin Project through May 2. Many opponents, including water quality experts, have raised significant concerns during this period whether DWQ adequately and independently evaluated the effect of the Project on water quality in the Yadkin and Pee Dee River Basins. DWQ should take sufficient time to fully evaluate the impacts of the Project’s operations for the next 50 years on the quality of the water, especially Badin Lake, before issuing the Water Quality Certificate. The FERC’s extension gives the DWQ that time, provided the DWQ starts the proper legal steps.

    It is uncertain when the final decision by the FERC for the 50-year license will issue, perhaps not for several months. We believe that more time should be taken by both FERC and DWQ to fully assess what will affect you and the State for possibly the next 50 years. So, we encourage you to visit the N.C. Water Rights Coalition Web site – www.ncwaterrights.org – and learn more about the critical issues facing water rights for all North Carolinians as they relate to what is happening with the Yadkin Project and this River Basin.

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