Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI)
filed an appeal of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources’
(DENR) decision to deny the company’s application for a 401 water quality
certificate for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project. The appeal was filed Tuesday
in the Office of Administrative Hearings in North Carolina’s administrative
court system.
When the State of North Carolina
filed a lawsuit on Aug. 2 lawsuit claiming ownership of the riverbed, it
spurred DENR’s denial of the 401 water quality certificate. We believe that
DENR acted unlawfully when it denied our 401 water quality certificate because
the denial was based purely on unproven allegations in the state’s lawsuit.
Equally important, the state’s
lawsuit asserts no claims with respect to water quality, which is the sole
focus of the 401 certification process. In fact, the hearing officer who
recommended issuing the 401 water quality certificate to APGI specifically
noted that the questions raised in the state’s lawsuit were outside the scope
of the 401 certification process.
Additional Legal Filings
In addition to filing the appeal,
APGI made two additional legal filings today related to the riverbed lawsuit
brought by the state, which is now in federal court. The filings include our
answer to the complaint and our opposition to the Yadkin Riverkeeper’s petition
for intervention.