{{ Ripples }}}}}} Alcoa closed its Badin plant in 2002 but left behind a toxic legacy in the land and water at Badin Lake, which feeds into the Yadkin River.
Yadkin Riverkeeper Map Exposes Alcoa as a Global Polluter W
hen Alcoa, the giant aluminum producer, filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to renew a 50-year operating license for four hydroelectric dams along the Yadkin River that powered its smelting plant in Badin, the company was confident North Carolina would issue the required permit — even though Alcoa closed the Badin facility in 2002. Since the plant closure, Alcoa has been selling the power on the open market, generating about $44 million a year. Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks had other ideas. Along with local business leaders and elected officials, he opposed the request, which failed to address numerous pollution problems linked to the Alcoa plant. For decades, Alcoa’s operations were responsible for the discharge of cyanide, fluoride, PCBs, solvents, metals, hydrocarbons, benzene, naphthalene and methane. Additionally, algae problems and low dissolved oxygen levels linked to their hydroelectric power operations had also been disregarded. Throughout the relicensing process, Alcoa argued that the contamination issues should be separated from its relicensing effort, claiming the company had an “outstanding reputation locally, nationally and globally for its commitment to protecting the environment.” Naujoks decided to do some research of his own. 12
Waterkeeper Magazine Summer 2009
www.waterkeeper.org
