National Freedom of Information Day and the Public Records Lawsuit Against Stanly County

Today is National Freedom of Information Day, an annual event designed to highlight the importance of open government and educate the public about the dangers of excessive and unnecessary government secrecy.

As you know, government records at every level are public documents and the Freedom of Information Act allows citizens to request and receive public records in a timely manner.  The system usually works pretty well, butapparently not in Stanly County.

Nearly a year ago, Alcoa Power Generating Inc. filed a public records request in Stanly County, seeking information about the county’s opposition to a new license for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.  You may have heard that Stanly County has spent nearly $1 million in taxpayer money on Raleigh lobbyists, lawyers and PR firms to oppose a new license.  We wanted to learn more about the motivation behind Stanly County’s opposition and its excessive spending of taxpayer money.

Despite the clear nature of the public records law, Stanly County ignored our initial request for public documents.  A follow-up request yielded a handful of documents, but after more than 11 months it became clear that Stanly County had no intention of turning over public records as required by law.  That’s why we filed a lawsuit against the county last Friday.  You can read about the lawsuit in The Charlotte Observer or The Salisbury Post.   

We look forward to finally learning more about why county officials have spent nearly $1 million in taxpayer money to attack the county’s long-standing business and single largest taxpayer.  We will let you know what we learn when and if Stanly County complies with the law.

Click here to learn more about Sunshine Week, a national initiative sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information.

More on the Yadkin Shoreline Management Plan

Thanks for the question on the changes to the Yadkin Shoreline Management Plan that will occur once APGI receives its new license. The proposed changes are outlined in the Appendix D of the Relicensing Settlement Agreement.

If approved by the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC), the changes would allow eligible property owners to build larger private piers with an overall maximum square footage of 1,100 square feet. Within that footprint, the modifications allow greater flexibility in the design of the facilities to meet individuals' needs. The changes would still require that piers be constructed of pressure-treated lumber and pilings, although proposals to use materials other than pressure treated lumber will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Other proposed changes that would benefit pier owners allow:

Individual or shared piers on lots with a minimum shoreline width of 50-ft within subdivisions developed prior to May 1, 1987;

Piers to be constructed in a minimum of six feet of water depth;

The length of piers to be 75 feet in total length regardless of the water depth unless there is a safety, navigation, and/or ingress/egress concern;

Boat lifts with supports resting on the reservoir bottom and boat lift covers;

On-pier structures, such as gazebos/shelters on the stationary section of the pier;

A sitting area within the 100-foot forested setback; and

Vegetation management in the 100-foot forested setback to create a view corridor.

Once APGI receives a new license, these new benefits could be implemented within three months.

If Stanly County gets what it wants....

In an article published by The Charlotte Observer, Stanly County Manager Andy Lucas says if Stanly County gets what it wants, its expenses will be repaid “many times over.” Lucas is referring to the nearly $1 million in taxpayer money that Stanly County has already spent on lawyers and PR firms to fight the relicensing of the Yadkin Project.

The truth is, if the county gets what it wants, North Carolina taxpayers will have to spend a whole lot more to seize Alcoa's property by condemnation. That would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, including $240 million in upgrades to power generation units and technology to improve water quality.

If the county gets what it wants, residents along Badin Lake and High Rock Lake will have to wait even longer to realize the many positive changes a new license will bring, including a new public swim area in Rowan County, new fishing piers and camp sites, land for a waterfront park along Badin Lake, and more flexibility for those building new piers on the lake.

If the county get what it wants, it claims water supplies will be better protected. But if the city of Albemarle, the county seat of Stanly County and the single largest municipal withdrawer, trusts Alcoa enough to support a new license, doesn't that speak volumes?

If the county gets what it wants, Stanly County will quickly earn a reputation as one of the least "business friendly" communities in North Carolina and beyond.

Do we really want Stanly County to get what it wants?

Mayor says greed spurs Alcoa fight

The Charlotte Observer published an article today that highlights arguments made by Mayor Whit Whitley of Albemarle in a letter to N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue regarding the Yadkin Project relicensing. Reporter Bruce Henderson reports that Mayor Whitley is disturbed that Stanly County Commissioners have spent nearly $1 million of taxpayer money on lawyers and PR firms to fight Alcoa, claiming they are “motivated by greed.”

You can view the entire article below:

The Charlotte Observer, March 4, 2009

Mayor says greed spurs Alcoa fight

By Bruce Henderson

The nearly $1 million Stanly County has spent to fight renewal of Alcoa's Yadkin River hydroelectric license is "motivated by greed," says the mayor of the county seat, Albemarle.

The county is aggressively lobbying to reclaim the federal license, which Alcoa has held for more than 50 years, and place it in public hands. Alcoa's aluminum works, once Stanly's largest employer, has closed and its hydro power is sold on the open market.

This week Albemarle Mayor Elbert Whitley Jr. wrote Gov. Bev Perdue, who has expressed personal misgivings about renewing Alcoa's license, to defend the company.

Whitley questioned the county's spending $965,000 over three years on lawyers and public relations experts to make its case.

“Why is this issue even on the table?” Whitley wrote. “The only true consideration is greed, and I am appalled that the state of North Carolina is buying into this type of thinking.”

Whitley, a Democrat, charged in an interview that the Republican-majority county commissioners want Alcoa's millions of dollars in hydro revenue and thousands of acres it owns around the four Yadkin reservoirs.

If the commissioners win, he predicted, new industries that use natural resources will be afraid to locate in Stanly.

County manager Andy Lucas suspects Whitley also has a financial motive.

Alcoa's proposed license terms allow Albemarle to draw up to 11 million gallons of water a day from the company's reservoirs without charge.

“They've been given a financial incentive to go along with Alcoa on this,” he said.

“We believe we need to protect the water and that's why we've spent nearly $1 million on this. We think it's an investment in our future to protect that resource and keep jobs in this region.”

Stanly is paying law firms in Raleigh and Washington, D.C., as well as a Raleigh public relations firm to make its case. Lucas said he doesn't know what future costs may total. The county has a $60 million annual budget.

If the county gets what it wants, Lucas said, its expenses will be repaid “many times over.”

Q&A: Can you still swim and fish in Badin Lake?

Since the N.C. Division of Public Health issued a fish advisory for Badin Lake earlier this month, we have received several questions that we would like to answer here.

Q:  Can you still swim and fish in Badin Lake?

Absolutely.  The recreational opportunities in Badin Lake -- swimming, fishing and boating – remain available to everyone. The fish advisory simply recommends that people limit the frequency and amount of catfish and largemouth bass they consume from Badin Lake.  In fact, the advisory does not place any additional restrictions on fish consumption from the lake — the State had previously issued a statewide fish advisory recommending people limit their consumption of catfish, largemouth bass and other fish high in mercury to no more than one fish meal per week (and no consumption for those who are pregnant or under 15 years old). The new advisory relating to PCBs has the same recommendations regarding fish consumption.

Q:  Alcoa has said contamination likely came from upstream sources since three of the four fish with elevated levels of PCBs were caught in the northwest arm of the lake. But don't fish migrate? Couldn't they have come from anywhere in the lake?

Catfish and largemouth bass are not migratory species.  In fact, during spawning season, these fish are highly “territorial" and stay in certain areas or regions of a lake.  There are exceptions, of course, which is why studies like this typically make recommendations based on average levels.  When you use the average approach to analyze the findings, there were notable differences between fish found in the northwest, southwest and northeast regions of the lake. 

Northeast Section: This is the section of the lake that is least impacted by the main flow of the Yadkin River, and all the fish found here had PCB levels that were below the state standard of 50 micrograms/ kilograms (ug/Kg) or parts per billion.

Northwest Section: This section of the lake is on the main stem of the river, located miles upstream of the Badin Works plant.  This is where three of the four fish with elevated levels of PCBs were found.  The average level of PCBs  in catfish was 56 ug/Kg,  above the state standard of 50 ug/Kg. The average level of PCBs in largemouth bass was below the state standard.

Southwest Section: This is the section of the lake that is closest to the Badin Works plant.  One fish found here had slightly elevated levels of PCBs — a catfish that measured 53 ug/Kg.  Still, the average contamination levels of catfish, largemouth bass and sunfish found here were all significantly below the state standard. 

Q:  How tainted are the fish in Badin Lake?

Twenty six of the 30 fish sampled by the N.C. Division of Public Health were below the state standard.  Of the four fish with elevated levels of PCBs, three of those fish were at or only slightly above the standard.

The state standard is 50 micrograms/ kilograms or parts per billion.  Here is a breakdown of the four fish with elevated levels and where they were found:

1. Catfish: 50 ug/Kg, Northwest

2. Catfish: 53 ug/Kg, Southwest

3. Largemouth Bass: 53 ug/Kg, Northwest

4. Catfish: 117 ug/Kg, Northwest 

The Department of Health stated that it took a very conservative approach when issuing this fish advisory.  Rather than evaluate the results based on average levels of contamination as it typically does, in the case of the largemouth bass, the Department opted to issue a lake-wide fish advisory based on a single fish with slightly elevated levels even though the average levels in every region were below the state standard.