State DEC to complete report on inspection of city's hydro plant

Yahoo

01-06-2025

Jun. 1—WATERTOWN — City Council members hope to hear soon more about the results of a state inspection at the city hydroelectric plant two weeks ago to determine whether the facility is in federal compliance.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation completed an on-site inspection of the Marble Street hydro plant on May 15 after a group of river activists alleged that the facility on the Black River was not in compliance with its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license.
Six DEC staffers spent a couple of hours taking a tour of the plant.
Councilman Robert O. Kimball thinks that City Manager Eric Wagenaar will update council members about it during a future work session.
"In general, it went well," Mayor Sarah V.C. Pierce. "Awaiting more details from Eric."
In March, the DEC requested the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission look into the city-owned hydro plant after recognizing that the situation with the facility is serious enough that FERC should "address this matter."
A few days after the DEC inspection, Wagenaar sent out "a quick update" in an email to council members that read:
"The DEC came with six staff members and spent a couple of hours with our team," the city manager said.
"I would like to wait for the DEC report for the details, as we all see things differently and I do not want to get ahead of them. The visit was cordial and productive for us and the DEC," it was added.
For weeks, the city prepared for the inspection. 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, planned on joining the DEC during the visit.
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.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, another stakeholder in the FERC license, also attended the inspection.
FERC also has 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 the commission's 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.
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.
The city could be fined $27,893 a day for that violation.
Wagenaar has questioned the motives of the river group, wondering why people who don't live in the state are interested in the city's hydro plant.
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.
Wagenaar was out of town and unavailable for comment.
DEC officials did not respond to written questions about the Watertown visit.