November 2011

Alcoa and the Big Bribe

November 30th, 2011
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See the latest news here: Riverbed Litigation filed.

Alcoa says it has offered to pay Stanly County $50 million dollars in cold hard cash to drop its lawsuit and pressure Governor Perdue to walk away from the State’s efforts to recapture the Yadkin River. Speaking legally, offering $50 million to get a government license may not be a bribe. But, practically speaking, it has the same result. And that’s not all; it gets worse.

Keep the Clean Water Act Strong

November 30th, 2011
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By WILLIAM K. REILLY
Published: November 28, 2011

Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, a milestone for a series of landmark environmental laws that began with the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Those actions set our nation on a course to restore our damaged natural resources, but today, because of political pressures and court rulings, the extent and durability of some of those key protections are at risk.

Top 10 Water-Related Things to Be Thankful for This Thanksgiving

November 23rd, 2011
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by Steve Fleischli, Senior Attorney, NRDC, The Huffington Post Green

Family. A job. Good health. Freedom. All these things are certainly worthy of appreciation any time of year. But this Thanksgiving I'm thinking about all the amazing ways in which water makes life better -- ways that are perhaps so fundamental to our everyday existence that many people might rarely give them a second thought.

Editorial: Latest Dirty Water Bill

November 16th, 2011
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Republicans just won’t give up on their misguided attempts to subvert the Clean Water Act. Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Dean Heller of Nevada plan to offer a rider denying protections to one-fifth of the nation’s wetlands and as many as two million miles of small streams. The House has approved a similarly destructive measure, so it is crucial that the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, and his Democratic colleagues block this legislation.

Alcoa, Stanly can't make a deal

November 12th, 2011
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By Julie Rose, WFAE

Already tense negotiations between Alcoa and Stanly County over the promise of new jobs in exchange for control of the Yadkin River have frayed even further.

Alcoa pledges to bring 750 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to Stanly County, if commissioners will step aside and let Alcoa's hydropower license be renewed. But the two sides appear as far apart as ever.

YADKIN RIVERKEEPER FILES INTENT TO SUE ALCOA

November 11th, 2011
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New Studies Indicate PCBs from Alcoa Continue To Contaminate Badin Lake, NC

Winston-Salem, NC, November 8, 2011 – Yadkin Riverkeeper today announced that the group has issued a letter of intent to bring a lawsuit under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) to sue the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) for the company’s unlawful discharge of lethal contaminants at the Badin Works facility in Badin, NC.

Landowners left out of the loop on 'fracking' risks

November 11th, 2011
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By Neela Banerjee, Washington Bureau, The Los Angeles Times

December 12, 2011

Natural gas companies that use hydraulic fracturing disclose the risks, such as leaks, spills and explosions, to shareholders, but property owners aren't privy, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group.

Alcoa offers NC officials jobs-for-license deal

November 11th, 2011
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By Emery P. Dalesio, Bloomberg Businessweek

Aluminum maker and energy company Alcoa Inc. said Thursday that it is making a $50 million promise to create hundreds of jobs for residents along the Yadkin River valley in a few years -- but only if officials stop fighting a 50-year federal license to keep operating a series of dams that could generate billions of dollars in electricity sales.

Editorial: Alcoa's stewardship of Badin Lake still lacking

November 10th, 2011
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By: JournalNow Staff, Journal Editorials, Winston-Salem Journal

A new round of tests revealing that problems with toxic chemicals persist in Badin Lake is all the more reason for the state to renew its effort to take over the four Yadkin River dams from Alcoa.

NC environmental group tells Alcoa it plans to sue

November 10th, 2011
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By The Associated Press, Raleigh News & Observer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- An environmental group has told Alcoa Inc. it intends to sue the company to force cleanup of a health-harming contaminant from a North Carolina lake.

The Yadkin Riverkeeper said Tuesday it sent a notice letter required by federal law to the company.

Regional commission to ask EPA about PCBs in Yadkin River basin

November 9th, 2011
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By David Bodenheimer, The Dispatch

In just its second meeting since January, the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission approved a motion to request the Environmental Protection Agency and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources conduct an ecological risk assessment of the Yadkin River basin to determine whether PCBs in the water are a human health risk.

Study recommends armored cap for sediments in Badin Lake

November 4th, 2011
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The Dispatch

BADIN | A study commissioned by Alcoa at the request of state and federal regulators recommends that sediments in a section in Badin Lake contaminated by historical storm water discharges from the former Badin Works smelter be capped to prevent potential migration in the future.