Fall of water tower signals new beginning for Alcoa plant

Blog post by Mark Gross, Alcoa Badin Facilities Manager

Ever since I came to work at Alcoa, a 120-foot water tower has stood high above the Badin plant.   

This morning, the water tower came down. The carefully planned removal of the tower is part of our ongoing efforts to prepare the plant site to attract new companies – and new jobs – to the community.

When the tower landed safely on the ground, it marked an important milestone in our preparations to site for new employers. For the community, it serves as a visible symbol of our commitment to give new life to the site.

This year, we’re spending more than $10 million to make the plant site more attractive for new companies. The work involves renovating buildings, removing equipment and razing buildings that don’t meet the needs of future tenants.

The water tower, erected in the 1960s to provide a backup water supply for our aluminum operations, had outlived its purpose and many local residents considered the structure an eyesore.

You can click here to watch video footage of the tower coming down. 

The Best Path Forward

I’ve been spending a lot of time traveling across North Carolina in recent weeks talking with people about the Yadkin Project. When I returned to Badin, I was struck once again by the sheer beauty of this place.

Looking out at the Badin Lake shoreline on a bright winter morning, you can see the wintergreen and the bare hardwood trees along the shore with a ray of sun shining on their branches. There’s a ripple in the water from some creature stirring below and a bird majestically flying overhead.

It is a wonderful reminder of what a great resource the Yadkin Project is to North Carolina. And, I believe, it demonstrates the care with which Alcoa has managed this great resource for the past 100 years.

North Carolina is a natural wonderland — with the Smoky Mountains to our west, and the Outer Banks to the east — and we are lucky to have this historic and scenic spot in the heart of the state.

This is where North Carolina’s first people settled 10,000 years ago. The Hardaway Site, one of the oldest and most significant archaeological sites in North America, was discovered in the shadows of Morrow Mountain in the 1940s.  

The hydroelectric dams along the Yadkin River have helped define this area today. The dams control flooding. They generate renewable energy. And they provide unlimited opportunities to hike, fish, camp, and boat along the lakes on the Yadkin River.

All of this reminds me of a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century philosopher: “All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses.” 

When you stand along the shoreline, in a boat on the water, or in the forest around these lakes, pay close attention to your senses: the taste of the morning air, the sight of the undisturbed lands along the shore, the smell of the pines, the sound of an eagle crying overhead and the feeling of peace.

Do that, and you will know that Alcoa is the best path forward.

Alcoa recognized for ethical business practices

Alcoa announced today it again has achieved the top spot in the Basic Resources category in the annual Covalence Ethical Rankings, a major international survey that measures the ethical performance of multinational companies.

“To be ranked number one in our industry in the 2010 Covalence rating confirms the values and integrity Alcoans have embodied for years. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical business practices, combined with a profound respect for the individual and a strong responsibility toward the environment,” said Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld.

Covalence’s reputation index, distributed by Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Capital IQ, is a barometer of how multinationals are perceived in the ethical field, and measures performance across a range of criteria such as labor standards, waste management, product social utility and human rights policy.

Alcoa has been rated No. 1 in the basic resources category since the ranking began in 2005. Alcoa placed 15th overall in 2010 across 18 sectors and 581 companies tracked.

APGI releases additional information on 401 appeal

On Friday, January 28, Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI) appealed the North Carolina Division of Water Quality's (DWQ) revocation of APGI's water quality certification (401).

Today, we are releasing documentation showing that DWQ was well informed about the equipment in question and its functionality in increasing levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water and that APGI did not withhold important information. 

Please visit our website at www.alcoa.com/yadkin/en/info_page/401_appeal_summary.asp for more information.