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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
City of Watertown will answer to federal regulators for concerns at hydro plant
Jun. 10—WATERTOWN — City Engineer Tom Compo believes that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will be satisfied with the city's report on the hydroelectric plant. In March, FERC notified the city that it has until later this week to submit a report to respond to each of 11 allegations that maintain that the Marble Street plant does not adhere to the commission's license. FERC started looking into the operation of the hydro plant over the Black River after members of a river group, New York Rivers United, brought up concerns to the federal agency in December. New York Rivers United, a group of whitewater advocates and rafting enthusiasts, claims that the city has violated the FERC license on a daily basis since it was renewed in 1995. The river group conducted an audit of the facility that found numerous alleged violations. That prompted the state Department of Environmental Conservation to urge FERC to conduct a noncompliance investigation into the plant. For weeks, city officials have been working on completing the report for FERC, Compo said. Last week, Compo said that he is confident that the hydro plant allegations will not be corroborated. "I think they'll look at it and be satisfied with all of our answers — truly," he said. The city is required to submit its response to FERC publicly online by the end of the business day on Friday. One of the most serious allegations involves aerial photographs from 2003 to 2024 that indicate downstream fish passage facilities appear to be out of compliance with the license. According to the license, the hydro plant is supposed to allow for fish to bypass the facility to prevent them from entering the facility. Compo indicated last week that the city is in compliance over the bypass. On Monday night, City Manager Eric F. Wagenaar gave an update to City Council about the city's response to FERC and a "walk through" inspection that a team of DEC staffers took of the plant on May 14. Wagenaar and city staff will meet Tuesday with an environmental attorney from Bond, Schoeneck & King — the law firm that represents the city — "to go over our response," adding that "the letter" answering the 11 allegations will go out later this week. As for the May 14 state inspection, the DEC has not finished its final report and the city and DEC need to clarify some information before it's finished, Wagenaar said. In 1995, the river group, the DEC and FERC negotiated the terms of the current license, designed to mitigate significant commercial, environmental and recreational impacts identified during the relicensing process. Under the 1995 agreement, an account was set up to distribute funding for river accessibility projects. The city and Rivers United, which advocates for accessibility to the river, have been at odds about who decides how to spend that money. Their disagreement dates back to 2011 to what is known as the Route 3 Wave, once a popular whitewater kayaking course that was a site of a World Championship that drew thousands of spectators. A large rock moved in its way and damaged the course. Rivers United member Alex Barham said the city is required to repair the Route 3 Wave, but has not done so. According to the FERC license, the city should have appropriated funding to fix the problem. Rivers United members Steve Massaro and Dick McDonald are meeting with city officials on Friday to talk about the Route 3 Wave. In December, the river group filed a complaint with FERC about never correcting the Route 3 Wave problem. As it was required to according to the license, the group claimed the city spent about $60,000 from that account, but the DEC and Rivers United never approved it, Barham said. About $225,000 remains in the account. Wagenaar said he presumes Rivers United set up the meeting to discuss the Route 3 Wave, but he told council members on Monday night that "it's not the best use of city money" to repair the wave because "you can't fight Mother Nature." Instead of that project, the city is looking at fixing some stairs that lead down to the area in the river where it's popular for kayakers and making repairs to some dockage on the other side of the river, Wagenaar said. The city has recently put up signs to make river enthusiasts more aware of the river's recreational uses, he said. Since 1997, the city also was required by the FERC license to release control flows to the Route 3 Wave — and post those dates on its website — but failed to do so until last week. Over that time, the city missed 899 instances when the releases were supposed to have occurred, Barham said. The releases will occur this summer from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays until Sept. 30. The water flow releases from the Route 3 dam make the river more conducive to kayaking, Wagenaar said. The city wasn't required to release the control flows unless it was requested by a river group, he said. Rivers United was the first to make the request, he said. "I have to pay someone overtime to do it," Wagenaar said, "because it's at night." Last summer, Wagenaar met with Rivers United but never scheduled another meeting with the group, questioning whether it was a legitimate organization. He was glad to find out it's an active group, Wagenaar said.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Inspectors to tour city's hydroelectric plant as questions linger over federal compliance
May 9—WATERTOWN — City officials are preparing for the state Department of Environmental Conservation to inspect its hydroelectric plant next week to determine whether the facility is in federal compliance. In March, the DEC requested the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to look into the Marble Street hydro plant after recognizing that the situation with the facility along the Black River is serious enough that FERC should "address this matter." DEC officials will conduct the on-site inspection of the facility on Thursday. The inspection was prompted after members of a river group, New York Rivers United, brought up their concerns to FERC in December. New York Rivers United, a group of whitewater advocates and rafting enthusiasts, outlined numerous instances in a 35-page document claiming the city's FERC license — known as P-2442 — was out of compliance for years. "We are looking at each of the allegations," City Manager Eric F. Wagenaar said last week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, another stakeholder in the FERC license, also will attend the inspection. U.S. Fish and Wildlife penned a letter to FERC contending that the plant was not in accordance with the federal license. "Staff from DEC's Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Division of Environmental Permits will attend a field meeting at the Watertown Hydroelectric Facility on May 15 to assess the adequacy of downstream flow. Representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are expected to attend as well," according to a statement from a DEC spokesperson. The DEC declined to comment further. FERC notified the city that it has until June 14 to submit a report to respond to each of 11 allegations that maintain that the plant does not adhere to its FERC license. In 1995, the river group, the DEC and FERC negotiated the terms of the current license, designed to mitigate significant commercial, environmental and recreational impacts identified during the relicensing process. The river group conducted an audit of the facility that found numerous violations. Other regional and national rivers groups — American Rivers, American Whitewater and Appalachian Mountain Club — also urged the DEC to notify FERC about the issues with the hydro plant. One of the most serious allegations involves aerial photographs from 2003 to 2024 that indicate downstream fish passage facilities appear to be out of compliance with the license. According to the license, the hydro plant is supposed to allow for fish to bypass the facility to prevent them from entering the facility, said Rivers United member Alex Barham. "The major thing they will be looking at is the fish passage pipe. It should be passing 149 gallons per second. It appears to be passing one-tenth of that. Have a look for yourself," he said, providing a photo of the situation. "That's the volume of a kiddy pool every second." The city could be fined $27,893 a day for that violation, Barham said. During recent weeks, the city has been getting ready for the DEC inspection. Recently, Wagenaar and city officials took "a walking tour" of the hydro plant to get a better handle on what's involved with the allegations, he said. City Engineer Tom Compo, Water Superintendent Aaron Harvill, city civil engineer Jeffrey Hammond and Ampersand NY Operations, the Boston-based company responsible for the day-to-day operations of the hydro plant, are working on preparing for the inspection, he said. While FERC has inspected the hydro plant in the past, it's the first time that the DEC is coming to look at the plant, Compo said, adding that getting ready for the inspection has been an undertaking. "It's taking a lot of time," Compo said. The allegations also involve minor infractions of not planting trees and not installing signs near the plant, he said. Wagenaar is questioning why people who "don't live in the city" have brought up the allegations. He's questioning their motives. Barham explained that the concerned groups are state and national recreationists who are interested in promoting the Black River for more recreation activities, tourism and economic development. Under the 1995 agreement, an account was set up to distribute funding for river accessibility projects. The city and Rivers United, which advocates for accessibility to the river, have been at odds about who decides how to spend that money. Some of that money should have been used to make improvements to what is known as the Route 3 Wave, once a popular whitewater kayaking course that was a site of a World Championship that drew thousands of spectators, Barham said. A large rock moved in the way and damaged the course. According to the FERC license, the city also should have been releasing water to the Route 3 Wave over the past 24 summers but has failed to do that. The city has acknowledged it has not fulfilled that requirement, Barham said. Starting June 1, the city is required to set a schedule and post it to the public when it plans to release the water to that site in the river. If it does not, the city will be in violation, Barham said. The city could end up losing its FERC license if it does not correct the problems, he said.
