There is a dam relicensing going on in the heart of TVA land. It's
actually a four-dam project falling under one license. The dams are Santeetlah
and Cheoah in NC, and Calderwood and Chilhowee in TN. Cheoah, Calderwood, and
Chilhowee are all on the Little Tennessee River while Santeetlah is on the
Cheoah River. There are two bypassed (de-watered) river reaches. One mile of the
Little Tennessee is bypassed between Calderwood Dam and Calderwood powerhouse.
About nine miles of the Cheoah River are bypassed below Santeetlah Dam. The
Cheoah has tremendous potential for whitewater and fishing. Those who have
managed to paddle it with sufficient natural flow or dam release have compared
it to the Ocoee River. The Tennessee portion of the project is in Blount and
Monroe counties in East Tennessee. The North Carolina portion of the project is
in Graham and Swain counties in Western North Carolina.
The dams are owned by Tapoco, a subsidiary of Alcoa, and provide power for
their aluminum plant in Alcoa, also in Blount County. Alcoa was in the
dam-building business before TVA, and after the authorization of TVA, contracts
between the two allowed Alcoa to retain ownership. Because they are privately
owned, the dams are licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Dams owned by federal agencies such as TVA and the Army Corps are exempt from
licensing. This project is bracketed by TVA's Fontana Dam upstream and TVA's
Tellico Dam downstream. The oldest dam, Cheoah, was built in 1919, and the most
recent, Chilhowee, was built in 1957. The project was licensed by FERC in 1955
and the license expires in February 2005. Tapoco plans to file for a new license
in February 2003.
A licensee has a variety of FERC processes to choose from in undergoing
relicensing. Tapoco has chosen a "front-loaded" collaborative process called the
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment (APEA). The idea is for the licensee
to reach consensus with all interested parties before filing for the license.
It's called a "no surprises" approach.
The comment period for Scoping Document 1 ended on December 4, 1999. Many
studies are currently taking place. A whitewater study took place
in July 2000.
More information can be found on Tapoco's Web Site.
More detailed map of Project
Area
 | How do I get on the mailing list to receive documents on the
relicensing?
Call Sue Fugate at Tapoco, (865) 977-3321, or e-mail her at [email protected]. You should
receive meeting minutes, Scoping Document 1, the White Paper on Dam Removal,
and other notices. You can also request the Initial Information Packet (IIP)
andthe Water Quality Analysis Report.
| Where should I send comments?
Comments should be sent to:
Mr. Norman Pierson
Tapoco, Inc.
300 North Hall Road
Alcoa,
TN 37701-2516
(or [email protected]) |
AND |
Mr. Paul Shiers
PB Power Inc.
75 Arlington Street
Boston,
MA 02116
(or [email protected]) |
We also strongly recommend officially filing all comments with FERC.
To do this, you must send an original letter plus 8 (yes, eight) copies to:
Office of the Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888
First Street N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20426
The first page needs to clearly refer to "Tapoco Project, FERC No.
2169."
| | How can I see all officially filed comments?
Go to the FERC Homepage and click on
"RIMS". On the left index bar click on "Docket #". In the docket blank enter
"P-2169". To see more than just the past month, reset the dates in the upper
right hand corner. Then click Send. To view documents, click on the number on
the far right, not the document title.
| What groups are following this relicensing?
American Whitewater, Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, Tennessee Clean
Water Network, Western North Carolina Alliance, Chota Canoe Club, Western
Carolina Paddlers, Sierra Club (WENOCA Chapter), are just a few.
| How can my group join this coalition to communicate and
strategize?
We currently maintain an e-mail distribution list containing about 30
people representing the above environmental and recreational interests, and
more. To join us, send an e-mail to [email protected]. We will occasionally be
submitting sign-on letters as a united coalition to Tapoco and FERC.
| Who is the FERC contact person?
Contact Ron McKitrick at [email protected] or
call (770) 452-3778.
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