[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

dam-l Dam decommissioning



FERC OKS DEAL TO TEAR DOWN 160-YEAR-OLD
MAINE DAM


WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission approved Wednesday the final terms for
tearing down a controversial 160-year-old dam on the
Kennebec River in Maine.

The owner of the dam, Augusta-based Edwards
Manufacturing Co., had appealed a decision by the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which ruled
last November that the dam's operating license could
not be renewed and the structure had to be torn down
for environmental reasons at company expense.

It was the first time in U.S. history that the federal
government refused to relicense a hydropower dam
over the owner's objections.

The U.S. Interior Department eventually worked out a
deal in May to allow dismantling of the dam to be
paid for by private sources.

Under the agreement, Edwards will turn the dam over
to the State of Maine on Jan. 1, and the structure will
be dismantled next year.

When the 917-foot-long dam is removed, 17 miles of
prime river habitat will be made available for salmon.

While the agreement ended a protracted court battle
to save the dam, it did not resolve the FERC's
authority in such cases. "We continue to maintain
that (the commission) overstepped its bounds when it
unilaterally ordered the (dam's) removal," the National
Hydropower Association previously said.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents
electric utilities, claims Congress has not authorised
the commission to order dams torn down against the
owners' wishes.

FERC's initial decision was seen as a big win for
environmentalists, but a threat for other dams,
particularly those in the West that are coming up for
license renewal.

The agency has license authority over about 2,000
dams nationwide.

Hydropower generates about 10 percent of the
nation's electricity and avoids releasing hundreds of
millions of tons of carbon dioxide into in the air
annually that would otherwise be produced from
coal-fired power generation plants.

(C) Reuters Limited 1998.