Alcoa donates three home sites in Badin to Stanly County Habitat for Humanity

APGI’s Nicole Wright presents the deeds to three vacant lots in Badin to Cemita Gibbs, executive director of Stanly County Habitat for Humanity.

Three new Habitat for Humanity homes will soon be coming to Badin, thanks to a land donation made by Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI).

APGI has donated three vacant lots in Badin to Stanly County Habitat for Humanity. The organization expects to begin construction of new homes on these lots later this year.

“Alcoa’s partnership enables Stanly County Habitat to continue our mission that everyone should have a decent place to live,” said Cemita Gibbs, executive director of Stanly County Habitat for Humanity. “With these additional lots we will be able to give a ‘hand up’ and provide a no interest mortgage for additional families in our community. Alcoa is a corporation that sees the unique role home ownership plays in the development and resiliency of our community and we feel they are committed to helping make a difference.”

Alcoa has been a long-time partner of Stanly County Habitat for Humanity. It has previously donated two lots in Badin and a pickup truck to the organization.

“We’ve seen what a positive impact Habitat for Humanity makes in our community and we’re delighted that we can play a part in providing new homes to deserving families,” said Nicole Wright, APGI Foundation Coordinator. “Our employees look forward to volunteering on the construction of these new homes.”

Alcoa Foundation Awards $45,000 in Local Grants to Promote Education, Healthcare and Land Preservation in NC

The Alcoa Foundation has awarded grants to three North Carolina organizations totaling $45,000 as part of its ongoing commitment to support worthwhile causes in the local community that are dedicated to improving education, protecting the environment and advancing health and safety.

The Stanly Community College Foundation, Stanly Regional Medical Center and LandTrust for Central North Carolina each received a $15,000 grant from the Alcoa Foundation. This money will support workforce education, provide enhanced medical care for rural and at-risk communities, and support land conservation efforts across central North Carolina.

“The Alcoa Foundation is proud to support these three important projects that will benefit our local community,” said Nicole Wright, the local coordinator for Alcoa Foundation grants in North Carolina. “These projects will train Stanly County students for engineering jobs, make it easier for residents to get quality healthcare, and support non-profit organizations that help protect our environment.”

The Alcoa Foundation grants include:

Stanly Community College Foundation

As part of Stanly Community College’s continued emphasis on workforce education and training, the $15,000 grant will be used to support the Electronics Engineering Technology program. The program, part of the College’s Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Technology initiative, helps train students for jobs such as automation and mechatronics technicians, plant maintenance technicians, and equipment maintenance technicians. The grant money will purchase equipment, including basic hydraulic furniture and a pump, that enables the College to build a full hydraulic training system for its Industrial Electronics lab that will open in 2016. The College expects to train 40 students a year and provide them with an understanding of hydraulic components, circuits, and laws.

“Alcoa has been a long-time partner of Stanly Community College, especially in the area of workforce development. We are grateful for its continued support," said Dr. Brenda Kays, president of Stanly Community College. “This grant will help support our new Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Technology Center by providing much needed equipment to help our students learn new skills.”

Stanly Regional Medical Center

The $15,000 grant will be used by the hospital to purchased advanced technology to provide telemedicine services at rural, high-risk clinics in Stanly and Montgomery County. Telemedicine eliminates the transportation barrier many patient face by  allowing the clinics to immediately share vital medical information – using two-way video and other wireless technology – with the hospital. This technology improves patient healthcare and allows the patient to more easily receive information about how to manage chronic diseases.

“The Stanly Regional Medical Center Foundation is grateful to Alcoa for their support through the telemedicine grant. Our Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Department is thrilled to be able to serve our community more fully through these funds. With each meeting, they think of more effective and efficient ways to reach their patients through this grant. Together, we look forward to improving the health of our community,” said Rebekah Ayscue, SRMC Foundation Annual Giving Officer.

The LandTrust for Central North Carolina

The $15,000 grant will be used to deploy a new database and monitoring system (ConservationTrack) that provides online tools to more effectively manage the stewardship of 600 conservation easements and properties stretching across central North Carolina. As part of an agreement to maximize their collective resources, this technology will be jointly used by the LandTrust for Central North Carolina, Catawba Lands Conservancy and Piedmont Land Conservancy. 

“With the help of the Alcoa Foundation, The LandTrust for Central North Carolina is breaking new ground by partnering with other land trusts to apply current technology to back office operations. This grant from Alcoa not only makes this possible, but leverages the opportunity by making larger projects more affordable over the long term," said Addison Davis, program director for The LandTrust for Central North Carolina.

Alcoa and the Alcoa Foundation have a long history of supporting worthwhile causes in central North Carolina. It has donated more than $4 million in the past 25 years to support economic development and assist nearly 100 local non-profit organizations.

About the Alcoa Foundation

Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States, with assets of approximately $480 million. Founded 63 years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than $615 million. In 2014, Alcoa Foundation contributed more than $22 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, building innovative partnerships to improve the environment and educate tomorrow’s leaders for careers in manufacturing and engineering. The work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa’s thousands of employee volunteers who share their talents and time to make a difference in the communities where Alcoa operates. Through the company’s signature Month of Service program, in 2014, 58 percent of Alcoa employees took part in more than 1,000 events across 24 countries, benefiting more than 700,000 people and 500 nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit www.alcoafoundation.com.

NC issues 401 Water Quality Certificate for Yadkin Project

The State of North Carolina issued a 401 water quality certificate the Yadkin Project on Friday, October 23. 

"We are pleased the State of North Carolina has issued a water quality certificate for the Yadkin Project and we are in the process of reviewing it," said Ray Barham, APGI Relicensing Manager for the Yadkin Project. "The certificate clears the way to a FERC license that will allow us to implement enhanced water quality technology and additional environmental and recreational benefits promised by the Relicensing Settlement Agreement. We have been good stewards of the watershed for nearly 100 years and remain committed to meeting North Carolina water quality standards."

Click here to read the State's press release.

Judge confirms Alcoa’s ownership of Yadkin River property and dismisses state’s lawsuit

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI) scored another key legal victory over the State of North Carolina in federal court Monday when a federal judge confirmed the company’s ownership of the Yadkin River property where it operates four hydroelectric dams. U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle granted APGI’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the state’s lawsuit seeking ownership of the riverbed beneath the dams. 

“The evidence, even viewed in the light most favorable to the State, overwhelmingly demonstrates that Alcoa has title to the bed of the Relevant Segment,” concluded Judge Boyle.

APGI successfully argued that the company has valid title to the riverbed and has been in actual, open, adverse, exclusive, and continuous possession of the property for more than 50 years.

“Alcoa is pleased with the court’s ruling affirming our ownership of the Yadkin River property,” said Ray Barham, APGI Relicensing Manager. “With this ruling we encourage the State of North Carolina to quickly issue the 401 water quality certificate so we can begin making investments in water quality improvements and bringing other significant benefits to the region once a new federal license is issued.”

This is the latest in a string of legal victories for APGI. Judge Boyle in April ruled in Alcoa’s favor that the relevant portion of the Yadkin River was not navigable, a crucial distinction that squashed the state’s argument that it was entitled to special property rights.

On Friday, September 25, a Wake Court Superior Court judge upheld a previous ruling that the N.C. Division of Environment and Natural Resources exceeded its authority, acted erroneously and failed to act as required by law when it denied APGI a 401 water quality certificate. The denial was overturned and the state agency has been ordered to act on APGI’s application within 30 days.

Hot, Dry Summer Pushes the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin into Drought Watch

Residents are asked to conserve water

The Yadkin-Pee Dee Drought Management Advisory Group (YPD-DMAG) announced today that because of months of hot temperatures and reduced rainfall, the Yadkin Pee-Dee River Basin has entered a drought watch stage.

Stage 0 of the Low Inflow Protocol (LIP) is a drought watch stage alerting the YPD-DMAG members to monitor conditions more closely.  It is the first of five drought stages outlined by the YPD-DMAG.

Water inflow into the Yadkin Basin is down nearly 50 percent from historical averages. Stages of LIP indicators are based on the following triggers:

* Water storage in the four-reservoir Yadkin Hydroelectric Project (operated by Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. (APGI)) and in the two-reservoir Yadkin-Pee Dee Hydroelectric Project (operated by Duke Energy) has declined.

* Stream flows feeding the reservoirs are well below normal.

* U.S. Drought Monitor trigger indicates most of the basin is experiencing moderate drought conditions.

The LIP is the drought management plan developed during the relicensing of the two hydroelectric projects to share responsibility and set priorities to conserve the limited water supply during drought conditions.  The LIP coordinates actions aimed at reducing water use from APGI’s High Rock Lake, Tuckertown Reservoir, Badin Lake and Falls Reservoir as well as Duke Energy’s Lake Tillery and Blewett Falls Lake to effectively buy time for rains to return and replenish the lake system’s usable water storage.

APGI and Duke Energy will monitor inflow and lake level conditions and work together to protect the water supply and other uses of the river system to limit the impact of drought on residents and businesses of the Basin.

APGI requested and received a temporary variance from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conserve water by reducing required minimum flows out of the Yadkin Project. 

The YPD-DMAG was established during relicensing to monitor drought status and to recommend coordinated actions for the DMAG members. Members include North Carolina and South Carolina resource agencies, federal resource agencies, Duke Energy, APGI, homeowner groups and water suppliers.  The YPD-DMAG meets at least monthly when conditions reach Stage 0 or greater of the LIP. For more information about lake levels and drought conditions, visit www.duke-energy.com/lakes/.asp for information on the Duke Energy lakes or www.alcoa.com/yadkin/en/info_page/reservoir_data.asp for information on the APGI lakes. 

AP: Judge weighs dumping Alcoa lawsuit

Alcoa returned to U.S. District Court in Raleigh Thursday for a hearing related to the State of North Carolina's lawsuit regarding ownership of the riverbed beneath the Yadkin Project.

Here's a media report from the Associated Press about the hearing.

Judge weighs dumping Alcoa lawsuit

August 27, 2015

A federal judge questioned Thursday whether North Carolina was acting like a “banana republic” with its lawsuit challenging whether Alcoa Inc. owns the riverbed under Yadkin River dams it has operated for as long as a century.

U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle quizzed lawyers for the state and the aluminum giant in court for an hour as he considered whether to dismiss the case. The lawsuit filed in 2013 challenges whether Alcoa holds clear title to the riverbed that allowed it to build the four dams and perhaps one day sell them.

Boyle asked state attorney Donald Teeter whether the lawsuit sought to punish Alcoa for closing its Stanly County aluminum smelter in 2007 where hundreds of people once worked.

“Why isn’t this like some banana republic that confiscates property?” Boyle said. “This is really a thinly veiled power grab.”

Read the entire article.

Judge overturns denial of Alcoa’s water quality certificate

A judge has ruled that the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR) exceeded its authority, acted erroneously and failed to act as required by law when it denied Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI) a water quality certificate that is required to relicense its hydroelectric project along the Yadkin River. As a result, the denial has resulted in “additional and unnecessary delay” of water quality protections and improvements.   

Administrative Law Judge Selina Brooks granted APGI’s motion to overturn the denial of its application for a 401 water quality certificate for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project in a May 29 order. The court ordered the state to review APGI’s application "as expeditiously as possible” and issue a decision within 30 days. Click here to read the ruling.  

“The judge concluded what we have known all along – the Division of Water Resources had no legitimate grounds to deny our water quality certificate. We urge the agency to follow its rules and act quickly to issue a water quality certificate for the Yadkin Project,” said Ray Barham, APGI Yadkin Relicensing Manager.

In the order, Judge Brooks stated that “there appears to be no factual dispute that [APGI] satisfied the substantive requirements for issuance of a water quality certification.” She ruled that the decision to deny APGI’s application was an arbitrary and capricious decision that resulted in “manifest unfairness” to APGI.

When APGI’s application for a water quality certificate was denied on August 2, 2013, it was not the result of “careful consideration” or “impartial decision-making.” In the order, Judge Brooks stated that DWR exceeded its authority by admittedly basing the denial on a dispute over ownership of the riverbed beneath the hydroelectric project rather than water quality issues.

The issuance of a water quality certificate is a precondition to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issuing APGI’s new long-term license to continue generating clean, renewable energy at the Yadkin Project. FERC staff has previously recommended issuing a new license to APGI.

“This was never an issue about water quality. We have a proven plan in place to improve water quality and ensure compliance with the state’s water quality standards,” Barham said. “We are prepared to invest up to $80 million in the Yadkin Project to continue enhancing water quality in the Yadkin River.”

APGI and the State of North Carolina are currently involved in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court over the ownership of the riverbed. A federal judge resolved a key issue in the lawsuit in May when he ruled that the relevant section of the Yadkin River not navigable – a determination that prevents the State of North Carolina from asserting special ownership rights to the riverbed.

Alcoa Volunteers Assist Stanly County Seniors

A team of volunteers from Alcoa Power Generating Inc. spent Friday, May 8 working with Stanly County senior citizens as part of the United Way of Stanly County’s Day of Caring. The volunteer effort was part of an Alcoa ACTION grant that involves the donation of time and money to support local community causes.

Alcoa employees completed five landscaping and home repair projects through OASIS, a non-profit organization which provides Stanly County seniors with services that help maintain independence and dignity, prevent premature nursing home admittance, and enhance quality of life. The company will also provide a $1,500 grant to OASIS.

“We love working with the seniors in our community,” said Nicole Wright, the Alcoa Foundation’s local coordinator. “Our employees really enjoyed spending the day out in the community and the people we worked with were so appreciative.”

Court issues order on issue of navigability

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle ruled that the Yadkin River was not navigable in an order containing his findings of fact and conclusions of law as to navigability in the lawsuit between Alcoa and the State of North Carolina.

The May 6 order states that the State of North Carolina failed to meet its burden of proof that the relevant segment of the Yadkin River (the 45-mile area where Alcoa's hydroelectric dams are located) was navigable for commerce at the time of statehood.

"All of the evidence suggests that the Relevant Segment was never, at any point in history, navigated for commerce in its entirety, nor could it have been," states Judge Boyle. 

Click here to read the entire order.

Family friendly events planned at High Rock Lake on Saturday

To celebrate the start of the boating season at High Rock Lake, Alcoa and the High Rock River Rats are hosting a series of family-friendly events on Saturday, April 25 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Buddle Creek Access Area in Lexington. A lake cleanup effort sponsored by the High Rock River Rats will take place at the same time.  

“We encourage everyone to come out to High Rock Lake on Saturday to enjoy a free hot dog, grab a free life jacket and learn how to stay safe on the lakes,” said Karen Baldwin, a natural resources manager for Alcoa Power Generating Inc. who spearheads the company’s water safety efforts.

“We want to use this kickoff event to remind families about the different ways they can protect themselves when they are swimming or boating.”

Activities will include:

Interactive Games:
Take part in fun, family friendly games and activities that reinforce the importance of water safety.



Boating Safety:
Representatives from NC Wildlife Resources Commission, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and local law enforcement agencies will be there to share boating safety tips and show off the boats used to patrol the lakes and rescue those in need.

Free Life Jackets:
Alcoa will give away free life jackets to 100 children under 13 years old. NC law requires children under 13 to always wear a life jacket when on a boat.

Hot Dog Lunch:
Enjoy a hot dog lunch, courtesy of the High Rock River Rats



Lake Cleanup:
The High Rock River Rats and Piedmont Triad Regional Council’s Stormwater SMART program encourage people to join the cleanup effort and help keep High Rock Lake clean.

The Buddle Creek Access Area is located off Holloway Church Road in Lexington. A similar event will be held at Badin Lake in May.

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. has been sponsoring a water safety campaign at the lakes along the Yadkin River for more than 10 years. Providing free life jackets is one of several ways that Alcoa works with law enforcement agencies to promote water safety. The company also provides financial support to local sheriff departments for increased patrols of the lakes and sponsors an advertising campaign to remind people to “Put It On.”

North Carolina consistently ranks near the top of the list when it comes to boating. NC ranked 5th in the nation in boating accidents (139), 6th in boating injuries (90) and 10th in boating deaths (16) last year. Some of those accidents happened at High Rock Lake.

The number one cause of death in boating accidents is drowning, according to US Coast Guard. Statistics show that 77% of boating fatalities were the result of drowning.

The Badin Lake Osprey Cam: Easter Eggs Arrive

The week before Easter saw the special delivery of two eggs on the Alcoa OspreyCam, a live feed that follows a pair of Osprey in their nest atop the Narrows Dam at Badin Lake. People from across North Carolina and around the world can watch these birds live at www.alcoa.com/ospreycam.

After several weeks of building their new nest, the Osprey pair welcomed their first egg on Wednesday. A second egg was spotted on Friday morning. The eggs typically incubate for about five weeks, so viewers can expect to see the chicks hatch in early to mid May. 

Last year, the Alcoa Osprey Cam saw the arrival of one chick – named Miracle – who survived despite facing several challenges. The live camera lets viewers watch as the chicks hatch, get accustomed to their new surroundings and learn to fly. 
 


Ospreys are large birds — with a wingspan of 5-6 feet — that resemble bald eagles. The birds live along rivers, lakes and other large bodies of water where they can feed on fish. The open water and large tracts of undeveloped shoreline at the Yadkin Project provide the perfect setting for wildlife such as bald eagles, ospreys, great blue herons and great egrets.


Alcoa also operates an EagleCam (www.alcoa.com/eaglecam) that provides a live look at two bald eagle chicks in Davenport, Iowa.