ryalcurtis's blog

The opinion piece below was published in the Charlotte Observer on Nov. 5, 2009. I am republishing this piece on behalf of Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper (www.yadkinriverkeeper.org).

The Yadkin Riverkeeper is one of the many environmental groups in opposition to Alcoa receiving a new 50-year license from the federal government for North Carolina's Yadkin Hydroelectric Project located in central North Carolina. Our group (MMI public relations) represents the Stanly County Board of Commissioners who also oppose Alcoa's 50-year federal request. Support for this opposition has grown to include Governor Perdue, Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco, Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan, as well as number of other nonprofit groups and elected officials.

Alcoa's environmental record part of Yadkin River debate
It wants to keep harvesting profits while denying pollution.

From Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper:

Concerned citizens of North Carolina, act NOW to save your water rights. The N.C. Division of Water Quality is seeking public comments regarding an application for a water quality certificate for the hydroelectric power plant on the Yadkin River.

Front-paged for action!

If you cannot win your battles in print, why not put it into commercials? That appears to be the motivation behind Alcoa buying a heavy amount of ad space recently on radio stations in Stanly County. Alcoa has been fighting to have the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) grant the multinational firm a 50-year license for hydroelectric operations on the Yadkin River, one of the longest rivers in all of North Carolina.

Anyone living in North Carolina knows that the entire state is facing drought conditions which are not going away anytime soon. To combat this situation, the state is urging municipalities to consider allocating and transferring water resources to meet the needs of customers.

Frontpaged for discussion.