There
is currently underway an effort by special interests in Stanly County
(who also operate under the guise of the N. C. Water Rights Committee),
joined by the Yadkin Riverkeeper and the Governor of North Carolina,
for the State to seize ownership of Alcoa's property, dams and business
in a 38-mile section of the Yadkin River, plus tributaries, from two
miles above Boone's Cave to just below the Falls Dam..
Our utmost priority is the preservation of historic sites in the
Trading Ford area of the Yadkin River, and, by extension, in the entire
Alcoa project area. This proposed state takeover would be
extremely detrimental to those interests.
Alcoa
operates under the terms of a federal license (they do not have
monopolistic powers). Like NCDOT and Duke Energy (who undertook
development in the Trading Ford area), Alcoa was
required to conduct a historic survey.
Unlike
NCDOT and Duke Power, who only made a token gesture to touch base with
any local historian, Alcoa had a Cultural Resources Issue Advisory
Group which met periodically. Initially, like every other
historic survey I've seen, the Alcoa survey was just intended to survey
architecture (dams and powerhouses) and Native American
archaeology. I asked that it also include cultural landscapes
- battlefields and military sites, fords, ferries, and historic
roads. Alcoa very readily agreed, even though it increased their
cost for the survey. We were fortunate that the consultant
they'd already engaged has submitted National Register nominations for
a number of Civil War battlefields in Tennessee, as well as for the
Trail of Tears. In other words, he's had experience with
cultural landscapes, which are generally completely overlooked in North
Carolina. The survey identified a number of mill, ford and
ferry sites along the river, and particularly focused on the Trading
Ford area, "the most significant location in the High Rock Reservoir
basin." It was a groundbreaking study!
Shortly
after NCDOT submitted its report to the National Register (recommending
that nothing in the Trading Ford area was eligible for the Register),
the Alcoa consultant sent a letter recommending that a district along
the river, from Beard's Bridge to the Trading Ford, was
eligible. This recommendation was later included in Alcoa's
final survey, and influenced NCDOT to recommend part of that area as
being an eligible district.
The
way the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission operates, the process
involving historic resources is only partially complete.
Preparation of a Historic Property Management Plan, the provisions of
which will protect historic resources in the entire project
area over the next 50 years, was postponed by a Programmatic Agreement
until after the license is
issued. Alcoa has verbally agreed to everything I
thought I reasonably could ask for to protect historic sites in the
project area, but these protections have not been
codified yet.
I
have had in the past some serious issues with the way Alcoa conducted
the relicensing process. We've had, shall we say, some extremely heated
arguments. But, in the end, Alcoa agreed to do right by
historic resources, by choice; there was nothing forcing them to do so.
If
the Yadkin Project were to be taken over by the state, the State
Historic Preservation Office in Raleigh would have complete autocratic
control over the way historic resources are treated. Judging
from past experience, all decisions would be made behind closed doors
in Raleigh, without due consideration of federal guidelines, without
considering public input, without accountability. There's
something wrong when the biggest obstacle to historic preservation is
the State Historic Preservation Office! Certainly what Alcoa
has verbally agreed to would be lost. This would be a serious
setback to historic preservation efforts. Alcoa's offer to
sell a substantial amount of property for conservation
purposes outside the project area, including some in the
Trading Ford area, would also be lost.
Throughout the years, Alcoa has been a good steward of
historic resources. The Narrows Dam and Powerhouse Development is the
only hydroelectric development in North Carolina listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. The other three Alcoa dam and
powerhouse developments have been determined eligible for listing.
Several years ago Alcoa donated
one million historic artifacts unearthed at the historic Hardaway Site
in Stanly County to researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill.
This site, one of North America’s most significant
archaeological sites, was discovered on Alcoa-owned property in the
1940s. The Alcoa Foundation provided a $220,000 grant to
raise awareness about the site and the settlers who lived here more
than 10,000 years ago. This historic site is scheduled to be
donated to the State of North Carolina as part of the Yadkin
Relicensing Settlement Agreement.
Obviously,
a state takeover of Alcoa's Yadkin Project would be
detrimental to our interests, and to the interests of everyone who
values North Carolina's rich cultural heritage. Frankly, it
scares the **** out of me!
Alcoa has been good to
historic resources in the Yadkin River basin. The State of North
Carolina has not.
|