The NC Division of Water Quality has revoked Alcoa Power Generating Inc.’s 401 water quality certification — a key component of the aluminum giant’s bid to retain another 50 years of control over a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River that includes four hydroelectric dams in the vicinity of Badin Lake — High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls.
On Wednesday, Coleen Sullins, director of the NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ), sent a certified letter to officials at Alcoa Power Generating Inc., a subsidiary of Alcoa, stating that the state has learned that the aluminum-maker submitted “incorrect” information to DWQ as part of its application for a new license and “intentionally withheld information material to determining the project’s ability to meet the state’s water quality standards for dissolved oxygen.”
In a prepared statement, Sullins said she was disappointed when she learned of Alcoa’s “intentional omission” of information in its 401 water quality application regarding “the critical matter of dissolved oxygen.”
“The process of certification relies on applicants submitting accurate and comprehensive information to the division,” Sullins said. “When they do not, revocation is warranted.”
The evidence of Alcoa’s withholding of vital information came to light during the ongoing lawsuit brought by Stanly County and the Yadkin Riverkeeper against the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Stanly County and the Riverkeeper claim the state regulatory agency failed to exercise the full scope of its authority under the Clean Water Act when issuing the water quality certification permit to Alcoa last year.
Sullins’ letter to Alcoa officials contains excerpts from four Alcoa internal e-mails that document the company’s intentional withholding of critical information from the state agency.
In an e-mail sent by former Alcoa spokesman Gene Ellis to Paul Shiers, who submitted Alcoa Power Generating Inc.’s (APGI) application for a new 50-year license to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2007, Ellis states: “If we even begin to suggest to DWQ that the enhancements proposed by APGI for Narrows and High Rock may not allow those tailwaters to meet state standards, DWQ can’t issue us a 401. APGI must stand by its conviction that what it has planned at HR and Narrows will allow those tailwaters to meet standards.”
In her statement, Sullins explained that Alcoa’s dams pull water from the deep in Badin Lake and then discharge that water into the Yadkin, which results in dissolved oxygen levels not meeting state standards. Therefore, the 401 water quality certification required that the High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls dams installed oxygen enhancing equipment.
However, the internal Alcoa e-mails presented at trial reveal the company discussing ways to avoid having to meet the requirements of the certification.
“These emails and other information made available to DWQ through the hearing process indicate that issuance of the 401 Certification was based on incomplete or inaccurate information,” Sullins said.
In a press release, Alcoa characterized the state’s decision as “unreasonable” and said it plans a “vigorous response.”
1 comment:
Nice reporting.
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