Yadkin River

After all that has happened, it's hard to believe Alcoa has a snowball's chance in hell of closing their deal to control one of North Carolina's great rivers.

But with Thom Tillis calling the shots in Raleigh, any kind of political scam you can imagine is truly possible.

Vigilance is the order of the day.

Alcoa Fails to Provide Job Guarantees, Blocks Clean Tech Deal
Governor Says No to Corporate Control of NC’s Yadkin River

Last week the US Supreme Court heard arguments from Montana and PPL, a hydroelectric power producer regarding who owns the riverbeds on three Montana Rivers. According to US law, if a river is "navigable" it is owned by the State and should be held in Trust for the people of the State. If the river is not navigable, then it is owned by the federal government for the people of the United States. The case began as parents of school children in Montana got tired of budget cuts to schools, and noted that the State had not been charging millions in riverbed rent for several rivers over the past several decades. They sued the state claiming the State had not been managing its public trust responsibly because it had not been charging rent for the use of the public land.

The Yadkin River is one of our state’s greatest wealth generators. For instance, a thirty-eight mile stretch of the river provides 940 million kilowatt hours of valuable hydro-electricity. Unfortunately, for the past decade, the majority of the wealth generated by the river has flowed out of our state’s economy rather than into it.

A federal appeals court has ruled against Alcoa in its bid to speed the process of granting a federal license to operate four dams along the Yadkin River in Stanly County.

Alcoa's bid to continue operating the dams, which it built along the river to provide energy for a now-closed smelting plant near Badin, is opposed by state officials and by environmental groups. Gov. Bev Perdue's administration has said it could attract new jobs if it were to operate the dams, which are along a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River.

I guess the answer "No." won't be heard until they get tired of paying lawyers. Honestly, my google alert for news: Yadkin Alcoa has had no hits for months. The rusty wheels of justice turn very slowly.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/04/2271765/court-rules-against-...

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!