Alcoa receives state and federal approval to begin capping project at Badin Lake

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources to move forward with its plan to install a cap over a three-acre area of Badin Lake. 

Alcoa will place a cap of sand and rocks over sediments in Badin Lake that contain low levels of PCBs. The sediments have been closely monitored for decades and do not pose a risk to the environment or people who use Badin Lake. Capping the sediments is a precaution that will stabilize the sediments and mitigate the possibility that the sediments could be disturbed in the future.

The project will require water levels in Badin Lake to be lowered 15-20 feet. This includes two weeks to lower the water level of Badin Lake, 7 to 10 days of low lake levels, and approximately two to three weeks to raise the lake levels back to normal, depending on rainfall during that period. Water levels at High Rock lake will not be impacted by this project. 

Work is expected to begin in December, but the timetable has not been finalized. Project updates, including daily reports of water levels, will be posted online at www.alcoa.com/badin.

The remediation plan was reviewed by the North Carolina Division of Waste Management and the US Environmental Protection Agency.