Thursday, March 15, 2012

Alcoa Investments Improving Water Quality at Yadkin Project

Water quality at the Yadkin Project has improved dramatically since we invested more than $5 million in turbine upgrades and other enhancements specifically designed to increase the amount of oxygen in the water.

That's the finding of a report on water quality that APGI released this week. It shows that water discharged from the Narrows Dam contains the highest concentration of dissolved oxygen — a key indicator of water quality — since we began monitoring water quality in 2007. This demonstrates that the Yadkin Project’s water quality is consistently improving, as measured by state standards for dissolved oxygen that will take effect when we receive a new federal license.

Why is this important? It's further evidence that the Yadkin Project deserves the state water quality certificate it was issued in 2009. A water quality certificate is a requirement for receiving a new FERC license.

We have installed new technology at three turbines at Narrows Dam, and water discharged from Narrows would have met the new state standard 100 percent of the time in 2011 — a 115 percent improvement since the majority of the work at Narrows was completed in 2007. We were confident that this technology would significantly improve dissolved oxygen conditions and it has.

In addition, APGI has committed to invest up to $80 million more to continue improving water quality at the Yadkin Project, beginning with a $40 million investment at High Rock Lake. Once we complete those upgrades, the Yadkin Project will fully comply with state water quality standards.

Click here to read the press release.
Click here to view the complete report.