Published: April 15, 2009 08:42 am      

HRLA opposes bill, favors Alcoa

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 — After a meeting last week of the High Rock Lake Association (HRLA), their board of directors unanimously approved a motion in opposition to North Carolina Senate Bill 967, which would deny Alcoa a 50-year relicensing of its power generation facilities and reservoirs on the Yadkin River and would establish the Yadkin River Trust to oversee dam operations.

In a written review of the proposed bill, Larry Jones, president of HRLA, pointed to several areas of opposition.

Jones said the bill causes further delays in the license renewal process, lacks legal precedent, creates loss of county tax revenues and adds to the taxpayer’s burden, assumes responsibility for pollution abatement, destroys the state’s “business friendly” reputation, and ignores normal requirements of accountability and transparency in creating the proposed Yadkin River Trust.

The HRLA Board also voted to object to Gov. Perdue’s motion to FERC to intervene in the relicensing process, citing six years of negotiations with Alcoa (APGI), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the many other stakeholders on the Yadkin River Basin to arrive at the pending Relicensing Settle-ment Agreement (RSA).

Jones said it is extremely disappointing to HRLA and its more than 1,500 members to suddenly hear the state call for an emergency hearing to hear a motion to allow intervention out of time and for the state to claim that “the governor is doing no more than implementing the will of the electorate and is deserving of deference on matters of timing.”

Pointing to the fact that both the Environment & Natural Resources and Wildlife Resources Commission have been involved in the process since 2002, the HRLA contends that Gov. Perdue’s actions “do not reflect the will of the people.”

“HRLA believes that these lakes are one of the crown jewels of North Carolina that provides environmental, recreational, economic, and aesthetic benefits,” Jones said.

“We encourage everyone to study SB 967 and consider the questions it raises.”

For further information and a review of SB967, see HRLA’s Web site, www.hrla.com.