FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Some environmentalists are calling for four private dams to be shut down in the "finger lake" region of the Great Smoky Mountains.

But officials with Tapoco, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America, say that's not an option. The dams on the upper Little Tennessee and Cheoah rivers generate about half the power for ALCO/~s Tennessee plant.

Because the Tapoco Project dams are privately owned, they're operated under a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Tapoco's current license, issued in 1955, expires in February 2005. The company hopes to file for a new license by February 2003.

As an alternative to FERC's traditional licensing process, Tapoco i~ following a procedure that allows the company to prepare a draft environmental assessment in consultation with interested parties, while at the same time the license application is being prepared:

"We have a lot at stake in terms of maintaining a competitive edge, but local residents and environmental agencies and recreation groups also have a lot to say," said Tapoco spokesman Mike Infante.

Tapoco is holding public meetings in North Carolina and Tennessee to develop a document that will guide technical studies scheduled to take place in 2000-2001.

Graham County officials have also said losing lakefront property to undamming rivers would cost thousands in waterfront property taxes.

The company's preliminary proposal is to operate the four dams essentially as they are now, with upgrades to improve efficiency and maintain their working condition.

Participants in a coalition of citizen recreation and conservation groups have requested a study of the suitability of the Cheoah River below Santeetlah Dam for whitewater boating and its effect on aquatic life.

Participants in the relicensing process also have asked Tapoco to take a serious look at the possibility of dismantling any or all of the dams to return the Little Tennessee or the Cheoah to a free-flowing condition to restore trout habitat.

Tapoco has ruled out dam removal as a reasonable alternative, based on lost hydropower and

JASON DARBY

CHOTA CANOE CLUB CONSERVATION OFFICER

the time it would take to evaluate 16 possible combinations of removal.

But Jason Darby, conservation officer for the Knoxville-based Chota Canoe Club, said the company took an "all or nothing" view of dam removal and that electricity lost from the removal of one dam could be recouped by upgrading the other three.

'% lot has changed since those dams were (last) licensed in 1955," Darby said. "The environmental and natural resource protection laws we have now didn't exist then.

"It used to be that everyone thought the best use for a river was making impoundments for power generation. Now people are considering other values, such as recreational opportunities and environmental impacts."