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djournal.com - Barbours moving out of Miss Governor s Mansion - 0 views

  • Barbours moving out of Miss. Governor's Mansion
  • ncoming Gov. Phil Bryant, says there was no word yet on when Bryant and his wife, Deborah, will move into the mansion in the center of downtown Jackson.
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    Incoming Gov. Phil Bryant, says there was no word yet on when Bryant and his wife, Deborah, will move into the mansion in the center of downtown Jackson. Read more: djournal.com - Barbours moving out of Miss Governor s Mansion
Yadkin River

With Governor Perdue as an Ally > Talking About Politics - 0 views

  • So five rural Commissioners from one small county tackled a multi-billion dollar corporation and, at first, it went exactly as you’d expect. Alcoa had a field day. Then during the 2008 election an odd thing happened: Both candidates for Governor – Pat McCrory the Republican and Bev Perdue the Democrat – sided with the County Commissioners against Alcoa.
Yadkin River

Whose water is it anyway!? - 0 views

  • COALITION OF CITIZENS, POLITICIANS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS BATTLE ALCOA TO RETURN THE YADKIN RIVER TO THE PEOPLE
  • “The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life,” Roosevelt told Congress in 1907.
  • Naujoks referred to Teddy Roosevelt’s well known opposition to corporate monopolies and his firm belief the nation’s natural resources belong to the people. Naujoks cited Roosevelt’s philosophy to highlight the disparity between the legendary president’s philosophy and FERC’s policies
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  • Gov. Beverly Perdue officially came on board with the Yadkin River Coalition — a group of local businessmen, citizens and politicians who oppose Alcoa’s re-licensing efforts — last September and her influence has proved invaluable to the cause.
  • The governor’s office filed papers with the FERC “seeking return of the right to plan the use of the Yadkin River flows and the Yadkin hydroelectric project for the benefit of the people of North Carolina,” according to a press release
  • Recapturing the water rights to the Yadkin is essential to the health and well being of the citizens of the nearly 25 counties that comprise the Yadkin River Basin, Perdue stated.
  • “Given the Yadkin River’s broad impact on the state, we believe strongly that the state is the most appropriate body to plan use of this invaluable natural resource, to help assure the region’s municipal water supply and quality and to facilitate future growth and development,” Perdue stated.
  • “Given the Yadkin River’s broad impact on the state, we believe strongly that the state is the most appropriate body to plan use of this invaluable natural resource, to help assure the region’s municipal water supply and quality and to facilitate future growth and development,” Perdue stated.
  • The Badin Works aluminum smelting plant did bring 1,000 jobs to the area after Alcoa applied for its water rights license in 1958. But Alcoa, a multi-billion dollar corporation and the world’s largest producer of aluminum, ceased operations at the plant in 2007. The plant employed only 377 people when it shut down, said Alcoa spokesman Gene Ellis.
  • One of the first legislators to take their side was NC Sen. Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr., who represents Cabarrus and Iredell counties. Hartsell came on board with the Yadkin River Coalition two years ago after meeting with Dick, Jim Nance, a former board member of the NC Department of Transportation, and Stanly County Commissioner Lindsey Dunevant at his legislative offices in Raleigh.
  • But after he studied the Federal Power Act, he became fascinated with the issue of Alcoa attempting to maintain its monopoly over the 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin. Convinced of the appropriateness of the coalition’s cause, Hartsell signed on and recruited fellow Republican state senator, Stan Bingham.
  • “As far as I’m concerned, Alcoa got the gold mine and we got the shaft,” Bingham said
  • “The little town of Denton is having to pay [Alcoa] for the use of the water coming down the Yadkin for drinking,” Bingham said. “The way that’s calculated is they charge because it’s a loss of power generation…. This whole thing was done many, many years ago, and a lot of people didn’t think about the people they were dealing with at the time.”
  • “Alcoa and others keep talking about it being a ‘taking’ [of property],” Hartsell said. “It’s not a taking; it’s not even close to it. All we’re asking Alcoa to do is to fulfill the obligations that were identified in 1958 that they agreed to.”
  • “They acknowledged when the license was up, they no longer had the right to use the property,” Hartsell explained. “We’re saying there needs to be an equivalency for the run of our river, and when I say ‘our,’ I mean everybody’s. It’s not a private entity. The feds and the state have had control of the run of the rivers since the beginning of the republic.” The language of the Federal Power Act includes a stipulation that the controlling entity, in this case Alcoa, must estimate the recapture value of the resource in the event it must surrender the rights to that resource, Hartsell said. “There is a statutory formula for how you calculate recapture and Alcoa computed it to be $24.2 million in 2006,” Hartsell said.
  • Yadkin River Trust Bil
  • The bill clearly outlines the three primary issues at stake — A) who controls the waters of the Yadkin for the next 50 years; B) the environmental issue related to the condition or quality of the water itself and the immediate environs; and C) the use of the electricity generated by the run of the river.
  • “[Alcoa] signed an agreement. We’re just asking them to live up to their own word,” he said. “The state of North Carolina intervened 50 years ago on Alcoa’s behalf to assist them to get a 50-year license and operate the plant at Badin, but conditions have changed dramatically. If they’re going to use it, what is the return to the people of the state on the state’s investment in the raw material, which is the water? That water is owned by the people.”
  • Alcoa’s re-licensing application represents “the mother of all incentives,” Hartsell said. “They want the state to concede they should have $1 billion in benefit over the next 50 years and provide nothing to the state,” he said.
  • “Why should we give it away?” Hartsell continued. “From an economic development perspective, energy is the major issue associated with job growth and development regardless of the industry.”
  • He pointed out that Alcoa is capitalizing on the hydroelectric energy generated by the Yadkin by selling electricity “on the grid” rather than investing in the local communities.
  • “We’re dealing with John Dillinger and Al Capone,” Bingham said. “Alcoa reaps [millions] in profits each year and North Carolina gets zilch.”
  • An environmental study commissioned by Stanly County and conducted by professor John Rodgers of Clemson University last year established a connection between contami nation of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in fish and soil samples taken from Badin Lake near Alcoa’s Badin Works operation. Rodgers’ findings led the Yadkin River Coalition to appeal the waterquality certification issued by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or DENR. Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster granted an injunction on May 26 prohibiting DENR from issuing a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa until the full appeal is heard.
  • The state issued a fish-consumption advisory for Badin Lake between Stanly and Montgomery counties last February due to elevated levels of PCBs found in largemouth bass and catfish
  • Alcoa attempted to block the advisory by filing a legal appeal. The company claimed that the state “changed its stated evaluation criteria after the study was complete and held Badin Lake to a different standard than the other lakes and rivers in North Carolina,” according to a posting on a company website.
  • Bingham said Alcoa’s objection to the posting of the fish-consumption advisory speaks volumes about their concern for the people who swim and fish at Badin Lake.
  • “It just tells me how they do business,” Bingham said. “They fought the fish-advisory signs; they say we’re taking their property and we have no rights to the water. We’re stuck with the bastards, at least for the moment, but I feel good about the direction of the fight we’re taking on in the future.”
  • Naujoks said he’s concerned about the high concentration of PCBs in the landfills and dumping sites near Alcoa’s four hydroelectric dams. Naujoks said Alcoa has not been entirely forthcoming about the number of waste dumping sites in and around their facilities.
  • They’re not showing us where all the buried bodies are found. As we start digging down through the layers, we’re going to find much more.”
  • “Alcoa knows they can’t hide these dumping sites,” Naujoks said
  • A PROMISING FUTURE Bingham said once Perdue joined the Yadkin River Coalition, it changed everything. “It’s been wonderful; it’s been extremely important,” he said. “We were facing a multi-billion-dollar corporation, but when the governor lis tened to our pleas, they began to take this extremely seriously. They realized they’re in for a fight.”
  • Bingham said the coalition will never quit until the Yadkin River is returned to the people of North Carolina.
  • “Our legal case could take years to resolve, but the campaign to support the legislation through the coalition and FERC re-licensing could be decided within the next year,” he said. “We will work on a targeted campaign to unify and strengthen grassroots efforts of local governments, public interest organizations, businesses and individuals to reclaim the waters of the Yadkin River to benefit the public interest.”
  • Bingham said he can see a day in the near future when the Yadkin is returned to the people and the economy of the 25 counties in the Yadkin River Basin begin to flourish.
  • The NC Department of Health and Human Services issued a fish-consumption advisory last February on Badin Lake after high levels of PCBs were found in fish tissue samples. Alcoa unsuccessfully filed a legal challenge to the advisory last April. The advisory remains in effect.
  • We can offer industry power at a reduced rate and that plays a big part in manufacturing,” he said. “That would be a tremendous incentive. For years, we’ve stood by the sidelines and watched industries go elsewhere. We don’t have anything to offer industry
Yadkin River

» Blog Archive » Central Park Poll Results of Yadkin Project - 0 views

  • A survey of 500 registered voters across North Carolina indicated that most North Carolinians overwhelmingly oppose such an agreement.
  • Many environmentalists and state and local officials in the region have remained steadfast in their belief that the river should be controlled by a publicly held trust in order to provide better benefits to the region and state. 
  • Alcoa lost a critical water quality permit last year when internal company e-mails showed that officials withheld information that downstream waters may not meet state standards. In addition, although elevated levels of PCBs produced by Alcoa have been found in fish in the river, Alcoa fought the installation of signs along Badin Lake warning people not to eat the contaminated fish, which infuriated many local lake residents.
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  • According to Nancy Gottovi, Executive Director of Central Park NC, the December 15 deadline looks like an attempt to apply enormous political pressure on local officials and the Governor to drop their opposition to the 50-year license
  • 72% of North Carolina registered voters said no to Alcoa being granted a new 50-year license, while 76% stated that they would prefer that a “public trust” control the Yadkin River and use the hydroelectricity as an incentive to bring jobs to North Carolina. The majority of voters (60%) also indicated that they were usually skeptical when a multinational corporation like Alcoa tells a community they will provide permanent jobs. The majority of voters (58%) also agree with the statement “Every effort must be made to protect our water resources, even if it makes recruitment of industry more difficult.”  An overwhelming majority of voters (74%) support Governor Perdue’s opposition to a new 50-year license for Alcoa to control the Yadkin River because she believes the waters of the Yadkin River belong to the people of North Carolina and should be used to help create new jobs and economic opportunity for the region.
  • We were concerned that the Yadkin relicensing issue was being seen as a local Stanly County issue, and that the opinions of residents throughout the entire river basin were not being heard.  We also see this as a major public policy issue that has implications for the entire state.  The control of water resources is immensely important as we plan for future growth in terms of drinking water, but also for clean, renewable energy. 
Yadkin River

Foreign Ownership of American Roads - A Mistake and a Backlash - 0 views

  • A couple of years ago Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a 75-year lease for 157 miles of the Indiana Toll Road for $3.8 billion, thus supposedly funding the State’s transportation needs for ten years
  • They saw Daniels’ move as giving away the State’s birthright
  • When the leases are to foreign organizations the backlash is particularly harsh. For example, in Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has privatized some Texas highways, was presented with a two-year moratorium upon new projects by the relatively conservative State Legislature. That throws a wrench in Perry’s plans for the Trans-Texas Highway, which is supposed to be a multi-lane facility, with high-speed trains in the middle, to carry especially trucks from Mexico all the way to Kansas City. The public is angry. They see Perry as giving away Texas sovereignty.
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  • Foreign investment ought to be prohibited.
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WFAE 90.7 FM - 0 views

  • Mr. Stickler is correct when he states, “We don’t put $300 million of investment in the ground and remove those assets in a couple of years,” says Stickler. HE AND HIS HOPEFUL INVESTORS JUST DO NOT MAKE THE INVESTMENT IN THE 1ST PLACE. His last “Proposed” Rebar plant (http://www.steeldevelopment.com/home.php) was in Amory, MS…… They committed to “DECADES” in Amory, MS, only to spend about 3 million dollars in grading and to leave when their “Equity Investors” , apparently Chinese, pulled out. Commissioner Dennis and the rest of the Commissioners have just reason to be concerned. I have spoken to people involved in the Amory MS project as well as Ontario, OH, where good people acted in good faith and listened to the “Stickler Pitch”… This time and in this community, Officials are aware of the previous dealings that this group “Proposed” and did NOT deliver on. It seems as if ALCOA has a big problem on their hands attempting to Introduce Clean-Tech to the Community. It makes you wonder if they conducted their due diligence, or did they? I stand firmly behind the County Commissioners and it is my hope Governor Perdue and Sec. Crisco are aware of the very questionable ability of Clean-Tech to perform considering that they DID NOT in Armory, MS. Comment by JohnMullis - September 30, 2011 9:10 PM
  • The jobs and revenue produced for the public by publicly controlled hydropower, where public entities have control of the FERC license for the hydroelectric dams is well documented on the Stanly County website. http://www.co.stanly.nc.us/ALCOARelicensing/tabid/176/Default.aspx This website has links to key documents information about the Alcoa situation which ought to be read by anyone seeking to be informed about the issue or desiring to make an intelligent comment based on knowledge, not ignorance. In particular, take a look at the links on the Stanly County website to about the large numbers of jobs and revenue for the localities produced by the agreements struck between Alcoa and the New York Power Authority in December 2007 and between Alcoa and Chelan County, Washington, in June 2008. http://www.co.stanly.nc.us/ALCOARelicensing/tabid/176/Default.aspx In addition, opponent's of recapture of the Yadkin Project ought to look at industrial recruitment advantages that South Carolina enjoys with low cost electrical power produced by Santee-Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, and the state’s largest power producer. https://www.santeecooper.com/portal/page/portal/santeecooper/homepage Comment by WaterPatriot - September 27, 2011 2:13 PM
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    Alcoa, Stanly County Square Off Over JobsJulie Rose Monday September 26, 2011
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Press Releases * Calisolar - 0 views

  • Its investors include Advanced Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, Good Energies, Hudson Clean Energy Partners, and Ventures West.
  • We are grateful to Governor Barbour, the Mississippi State Legislature, the Mississippi Development Authority, and Lowndes County
  • Calisolar was awarded a clean energy manufacturing tax credit as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
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  • SMS Siemag
  • supplying the majority of the equipment to be installed at the Mississippi facility
  • San Antonio, Texas-based Zachry Holdings, Inc
  • engineering and building the facility
  • upport from the Tennessee Valley Authority
  • Lowndes County Development Authority
Yadkin River

Monroe360.com - Miss lawmakers approve 3 job creation proposals - 0 views

  • Miss. lawmakers approve 3 job-creation proposals
  • Gov. Phil Bryant,
  • "The reason we're coming here, and I'm going to be frank, is the Mississippi farm boys and the farm girls," Correnti said. "I wouldn't trade a Mississippi farm boy or farm girl for any Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, South American."
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  • to make silicon metal for use in automotive parts, consumer electronics and energy products, including solar panels. Developers said the Calisolar project — sought by Ohio, among others — should create 951 jobs with an average annual salary of $45,000, plus benefits.
  • Calisolar, based in Sunnyvale, Calif.
  • lawmakers approved just over $175 million in bonds
  • $75.25 million for the Calisolar project
  • MDA executives said the bond request for the Calisolar project includes a $59.5 million loan for equipment and a building that would be owned by Lowndes County and leased by the company. The package also has an $11.25 million grant for infrastructure such as roads and utility lines and $4.5 million to help train employees at the plant.
  • MDA said the rebates will cost the state $15 million over 10 years.
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djournal.com - Amory project among top 15 in country - 0 views

  • Amory project among top 15 in country* Steel Development Corp. is building a $200 million plant that will employ 150 workers.By CHRIS WILSONMonroe Journal
  • Trade amp& Industry Development magazine has named Amory's steel mill project one of the top 15 projects in the country.
  • community-transforming
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  • "But the current situation has not cooled our enthusiasm- or that of our equity capital investors - for our business model
  • Amory Mayor Howard Boozer has said "I don't think people have begun to fathom the impact this project will have on Amory, Mississippi."
  • Boozer said getting the steel mill project in Amory was the result of a lot of "blood, sweat and tears" from a lot of people. "I said then that failure was not an option.
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    Dashed Hopes
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Senator: Solar company on Miss. session agenda - The Dispatch - 0 views

  • open a manufacturing plant that would create 900 jobs.
  • Brown told the AP that the new jobs could pay $40,000 to $50,000 a year. He said he didn''t know what kind of incentives the state will offer.
  • The state issues bonds as long-term debt to finance big projects such as construction or repair of highways or public buildings, or to provide incentives to lure companies to Mississippi. After legislators authorize bond debt, bonds are issued by the state Bond Commission, made up of the governor, the state treasurer and the attorney general.
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