20070812 Ver 2_Alcoa continues to mislead public_20101221

Dorney, John
From: Massengale, Susan [[e-mail]]
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 10:37 AM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Alcoa continues to mislead public, must be investigated
Attachments: ATT00001..c
From the Winston-Salem Journal
Alcoa continues to mislead public, must be
investigated
By DEAN NAUJOKS
Published: December 21, 2010
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1
voteBuZZ up!
Not surprisingly, Alcoa will appeal the recent revocation of its 401 Water Quality Certification by the North
Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). During the now-suspended trial
in Raleigh, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Stanly County vs. NC DENR and Alcoa, internal a-mails revealed ex-
Alcoa employees and hired consultants provided false information on Alcoa's permit application, stating dam
upgrades would comply with state water-quality standards for low dissolved oxygen in the Yadkin River.
Alcoa now suggests the a-mails were misinterpreted and were simply part of an "internal debate about design
assumptions." Yet, its e-mails make it clear that Alcoa was indeed lying to state regulators. "I'm certain
thatNorth Carolina Division of Water Quality would have a problem if they knew," wrote an Alcoa consultant in
2008.
In one e-mail, Alcoa's leading project manager for the Yadkin River relicensing project wrote that the dams
would not meet the state's water-quality standards all of the time. "The state doesn't know that," he wrote in
2006. A few months later he also wrote, "If we even begin to suggest this to the state ... it can't issue us a
401. Alcoa must stand by its conviction."
Alcoa, which continues to mislead about its ongoing contamination of the Yadkin River, must be investigated
and forced to fully remediate the damage caused to the land and water surrounding its Badin facility. Alcoa's
aluminum-smelting plant has left a legacy of cyanide, cancer-causing PCBs and PAHs as well as
contamination from fluoride and arsenic.
A Feb. 24 Environmental Protection Agency report reveals, "Sediment samples near Alcoa's outfalls indicate
that Alcoa released PCBs into the SW Arm of Badin Lake." Badin Lake has recently been added to the EPA's
list of impaired waters for fish consumption because of the effects of Alcoa's PCB contamination. Earlier this
year, Alcoa also received Notice of Violations for cyanide exceedances. Impacts of cyanide discharges
on Badin Lake aquatic life have not been evaluated by DENR, nor have the ecological impacts of PCB-
contaminated sediments in Badin Lake. Yet, Kevin Anton, Alcoa's chief sustainability officer, claimed, "We
have protected the environment" in his Dec. 16 Journal guest column that was headlined "Time for all to take a
new path forward."
Earlier this year, Alcoa vice president of environmental health and safety, William O'Rourke, who testified
before the N.C. Senate Judiciary, denied Alcoa had investigated employee-linked illness and deaths. Special
deputy attorney general for the N.C. Department of Justice, Faison Hicks, filed a complaint to the Senate
Judiciary claiming the Alcoa official's answer to the legislative committee about an internal epidemiological
study by Alcoa was "not factual."
Based on Hicks' letter and official Alcoa letters to company employees who participated in Alcoa's cancer-
study program, it is clear that Alcoa lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Still, O'Rourke denied the
company had known about or conducted epidemiological studies on Alcoa employees, many of whom were
exposed to coal tar pitch and a host of toxic substances while working for Alcoa. The high incidence of cancer
in the Badin area also requires further investigation by the state.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, has a clear obligation to the citizens of North
Carolinato deny Alcoa's fraudulent 50-year license application, as Alcoa has repeatedly demonstrated that it
cannot be trusted to be a good steward of the people's resources. Alcoa has proved by its own actions that it is
a bad corporate citizen and does not deserve another 50 years to perpetuate further abuse of the Yadkin
River.
Susan Massengale
Public Information Officer
DENR- Division of Water Quality
1617 MSC, Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
[phone]; fax [phone]
Please note: my e-mail address has changed to [e-mail]
E-mail correspondence to and from this address rnav be subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
DEWEY & LEBOEUF
December 7, 2010
BY ELECTRONIC FILING
The Honorable Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
1101 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005-4213
tel [phone]
fax [phone]
[e-mail]
Re: Alcoa Power Generating Inc., Project No. 2197-073
Dear Secretary Bose:
Alcoa Power Generating Inc. ("APGI") is aware that the Division of Water
Quality of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the State of North Carolina
has provided you with a copy of its Notice of Revocation of 401 Water Quality Certification,
issued December 1, 2010 with respect to APGI's Yadkin Project, P-2197 ("the Notice").
Please be advised that APGI believes that the Notice contains significant errors of
fact and law, and that the company intends to take appropriate legal steps to contest its issuance.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ David R. Poe
David R. Poe
Counsel to Alcoa Power Generating Inc.
NEW YORK I LONDON MULTINATIONAL PARTNERSHIP I WASHINGTON, DC
ABU DHABI I ALBANY I ALMATY I BEIJING I BOSTON I BRUSSELS I CHICAGO I DOHA I DUBAI
FRANKFURT I HONG KONG HOUSTON I JOHANNESBURG (PTY) LTD. I LOS ANGELES MADRID MILAN I MOSCOW
PARIS MULTINATIONAL PARTNERSHIP I RIYADH AFFILIATED OFFICE I ROME I SAN FRANCISCO I SILICON VALLEY I WARSAW
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have this 7th day of December, 2010, served the foregoing
document upon each person designated on the official service list compiled by the Secretary in
this proceeding in accordance with the requirements of Rule 2010 of the Commission's Rules of
Practice and Procedure (18 C.F.R. §385.2010).
/s/Shamai Elstein
Shamai Elstein