High Rock board sides with Alcoa for relicense

The Lexington Dispatch has reported that the High Rock Lake Association Board of Directors “unanimously passed a resolution last week confirming the board’s support of a relicensing settlement agreement that would keep the company in control of the Yadkin River and its four hydroelectric dams.”

“We feel the Division of Water Quality withdrew that water quality certificate more out of frustration with the ongoing judicial hearing than because of any real reasons for lack of information,” Len Strong, vice president of the High Rock Lake Association, told the Dispatch. “The information that they’re (state) claiming wasn’t there in fact was there … two years ago. Alcoa made that information totally available to our board as well as to the general public. But the state is claiming, ‘oh we didn’t know.’ So our feeling is this was a political maneuver.”

Strong later added, “There is a gut issue here. More delays means that all of those agreements relative to shoreline management, relative to water levels and so on, are up in the air and not really enforceable. We feel the lack of having that relicensing agreement is depriving all of the property owners and stakeholders from those agreements they worked so hard to get.”

Click here to read the entire article.

Another Misleading Attack from the Yadkin Riverkeeper...

The Yadkin Riverkeeper is at it again.  He attacked Larry Jones of the High Rock Lake Association last week, accusing him of a having a conflict of interest that compromised his advocacy for High Rock Lake during the relicensing process.

Anyone who was involved in the relicensing negotiations knows just how absurd that claim is.  Larry Jones was, and continues to be, one of the strongest advocates that High Rock Lake has ever known.

The Yadkin Riverkeeper’s allegations stem from a property agreement that APGI made with Larry Jones in October 2009.  Larry received ownership of the driveway to his home and property in exchange for his agreement to relinquish all pasture, cultivation and water withdrawal rights. 

Marshall Olson, environmental and natural resources manager at APGI, said the agreement offers important environmental benefits for High Rock Lake because it will reduce the potential for fertilizer in the lake and reduce erosion along the shoreline.

The High Rock Lake Association released a statement this weekend condemning the Yadkin Riverkeeper’s attacks and reiterating its support for the Relicensing Settlement Agreement.

“No one has or is fighting harder for the users of High Rock Lake and the rest of the Yadkin Project than Larry Jones and the Association,” the statement says.  “When the license is issued by FERC, we will have a binding agreement to operate the Yadkin Project for the benefit of all stakeholders. Jones, under the direction of the Association, was a primary negotiator to get these desired changes.”

“There is nothing wrong with the actions of Larry Jones, either in his capacity as an officer of the HRLA or in the manner he has conducted his personal affairs.”

Marshall Olson shared a similar perspective:

“Alcoa’s dealings with Larry Jones and his property have been straightforward and unrelated to his role with the High Rock Lake Association.  This transaction took place more than 2½ years after the High Rock Lake Association signed the Relicensing Settlement Agreement in support of a new license for Alcoa, and with the full knowledge and support of the High Rock Lake Association’s Board of Directors,” Olson said.  “Routinely, Alcoa must address issues involving historical easements and property line issues, such as those with Larry Jones, and this transaction is no different from the others.” 

This latest attack from the Yadkin Riverkeeper has absolutely no merit.  It is simply another attempt to drum up support for a costly government takeover of the Yadkin Project.  

High Rock Lake Association speaks out against state takeover

The High Rock Lake Association’s Board of Directors has unanimously voted to oppose North Carolina’s effort to take Alcoa’s privately-owned hydroelectric business and Gov. Perdue’s motion to intervene in the relicensing of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.  You can read about it here in the Lexington Dispatch: Lake group challenges state proposal on Alcoa and the Stanly News & Press: HRLA opposes bill, favors Alcoa.

A press release cited the association’s concern with the continued delay in the relicensing process, the State’s disregard for the established relicensing process in which the association actively participated and the burden on North Carolina taxpayers that would result from a government takeover.

The entire press release is posted below:

High Rock Lake Association Challenges State Proposal

LEXINGTON, NC – At a meeting this week of the High Rock Lake Association (HRLA), their Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion to take issue with North Carolina’s unprecedented proposal to take over the “Yadkin Project,” Alcoa’s power generation facilities and reservoirs on the Yadkin River.

In a written review of the proposed Senate Bill 967, Larry Jones, President of HRLA, pointed out that there are several areas that demand explanations from our legislators, including causing further delays in the license renewal process, lack of legal precedent, loss of county tax revenues, adding to the NC taxpayer’s burden, assuming responsibility for pollution abatement, destroying the “business friendly” reputation of NC, and ignoring circumventing normal requirements of accountability and transparency in creating a new “authority.”  

The HRLA Board also voted to object to Governor Perdue’s motion to FERC to intervene in the Relicensing process. After conscientiously and publicly negotiating for over six years with Alcoa (APGI), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the many other stakeholders on the Yadkin River Basin to arrive at the pending, detailed Relicensing Settlement Agreement (RSA) under FERC’s relicensing procedures, it is extremely disappointing to HRLA and its’ 1,500+ members to suddenly hear the State call for an “emergency hearing” to hear a motion to “allow intervention out of time”! 

The state is also claiming that “the Governor is doing no more than implementing the will of the electorate and is deserving of deference on matters of timing….”! This is despite the fact that the NC Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission have been involved in the process since 2002. The Governors’ actions, in the opinion of the HRLA, do not reflect the will of the people.

HRLA believes that these lakes are one of the crown jewels of NC providing environmental, recreational, economic, and aesthetic benefits.  We encourage everyone to study SB 967 and consider the questions it raises.

For further information, and a review of SB967, please see the HRLA website.