Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, is demanding that Larry Jones, president of the High Rock Lake Association, step down from his post after a filing by Alcoa with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, revealed that the world’s largest aluminum producer conveyed 2.5 acres of property to Jones last October.
Naujoks stated in a press release that Alcoa’s gifting of the land along the shore of High Rock Lake coincides with Jones shifting his position on Alcoa’s relicensing effort to maintain its control over a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River that encompasses four hydroelectric dams at the High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls reservoirs.
Naujoks is part of a coalition of citizens, environmentalists and politicians that oppose Alcoa's relicensing effort to maintain monopolistic control of the Yadkin River.
“Jones should recognize it is a conflict of interest and should willingly step down as HRLA President because he betrayed the association’s goal of high water quality for the lake in favor of personal gain from Alcoa with this deal,” Naujoks stated.
Marshall Olson, Environmental and Natural Resources Manager at Alcoa, described the land deal with Jones as “straightforward and unrelated to his role with the High Rock Lake Association.”
“This transaction took place more than 2 1/2 years after the High Rock Lake Association signed the Relicensing Settlement Agreement in support of a new license for Alcoa, with the full knowledge and support of the High Rock Lake Association’s board of directors,” Olson said in a statement.
The High Rock Lake Association was one of 23 stakeholder groups that participated in the Relicensing Settlement Agreement negotiations. The agreement was finalized in May 2007. However, two letters written by Jones to FERC officials prior to 2007 illustrate his initial opposition to Alcoa maintaining control of the Yadkin.
In November 2002, Jones wrote a lengthy letter to FERC complaining of Alcoa’s “deliberate failure to comply with [its] license requirements.” In the letter, Jones characterized FERC’s endorsement of Alcoa’s Shoreline Management Plan as a “rubber stamping of anything Alcoa wants.”
In a 2004 letter, Jones expressed water quality concerns related to Alcoa's stewardship of the Yadkin at High Rock Lake. Jones pointed out that officials from the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources or NC DENR detected low oxygen levels in the river near the four dams that comprise Alcoa’s Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. Jones criticized Alcoa for not acknowledging that its operations created the environmental danger.
“Such a position is absolutely not acceptable to the High Rock Lake Association,” Jones wrote. “The Association is convinced water quality is affected by project operations.”
Jones went on to say that it would not be in the public interest to allow Alcoa to win another 50-year license based on broken promises. Jones advocated NC DENR withhold its water quality certification until Alcoa made significant changes to its operations.
However, Jones and the High Rock Lake Association dramatically shifted their position on the issue. Last April, the association's board of directors unanimously voted to oppose Gov. Beverly Perdue's effort to recapture water rights to the Yadkin.
Currently, Stanly County, with the support of Gov. Perdue, is appealing a water quality certification issued to Alcoa by NC DENR. The matter is scheduled to go before a judge in the coming weeks.
If the county wins in court, it could derail Alcoa’s relicensing efforts to seize another 50 years over the stretch of the Yadkin that passes through Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties.
In the meantime, Naujoks is calling for accountability from Jones and the High Rock Lake Association.
“How can HRLA maintain its reputation for strong environmental protection for High Rock Lake? Larry Jones of 2010 should look back at the Larry Jones before 2007 and review his arguments against Alcoa receiving relicensing,” said Naujoks. “This deal was great for Larry Jones and Alcoa, but terrible for the public interest that is supposed to be served in the relicensing agreement.”
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