Inspectors to tour city's hydroelectric plant as questions linger over federal compliance

Yahoo

10-05-2025

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.