TWO DAYS LEFT TO SAVE THE YADKIN RIVER!

PLEASE CALL GOVERNOR BEV PERDUE AND TELL HER TO NOT TO SUPPORT ALCOA'S DEADLINE. IT MAY BE YOUR LAST CHANCE FOR 50 YEARS! Last December, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Stanly County prevailed in a lawsuit when it was revealed at trial Alcoa falsified dissolved oxygen data on its 401 Water Quality Certification which led NC state officials to revoke Alcoas Water Quality Certification (PROVIDE LINK) needed to obtain the 50-year license. Alcoa has since appealed the decision but in an attempt to avoid going back to trial in February, Alcoa has offered to pay Stanly County $50 million dollars in cash to drop its lawsuit and pressure Governor Perdue to walk away from the States efforts to recapture the Yadkin River. Alcoa and a newly formed company Clean Tech (with a very questionable track record) say they are ready to create 250 jobs in Stanly County but the offer comes with conditions. In exchange, Stanly County Commissioners have to support Alcoas bid for a new 50-year license to control the Yadkin River. Plus, the Governor has to grant Alcoa a new 401 Water Quality Certificate despite documented contamination issues and the failure to comply with dissolved oxygen standards. If these demands are not met by December 15th, Alcoa and Clean Tech have threatened to move the jobs to another state. See Alcoa and The Big Bribe PROVIDE LINK This is the political equivalent of blackmail. Stanly County Commissioners wisely asked Alcoa to tie the jobs to the 50-year license and commit to pay legally binding penalties ($1million per year for the duration of the license) if it failed to live up to its end of an agreement. Alcoa refused. All Alcoa has done is make promises which, as the Commissioners stated in their press release, are not worth the paper they are written on. Stanly County has since identified other companies wanting to relocate to the region that do not require giving up the 50 year license. A recent statewide poll (PROVIDE LINK) conducted by Central Park NC revealed 75% of voters in NC currently support Governor Perdue's position to not grant Alcoa the 50 year license. If Alcoa receives its federal license and then Clean Tech announces it will not be opening the Badin plant it would be a terrible deal for NC. In contrast, public ownership over the Yadkin River would create thousands of jobs over the next 50 years through low cost electricity (as an economic incentive to recruit business) and provide clean drinking water for future generations. The Governor is being heavily pressured into taking Alcoa's offer. If there was ever a time to speak up on this issue, the time is now! We have two days left! Please take a one minute of your time to contact Governor Bev Perdue today and tell her: !) You do NOT support her reversing her position and giving into Alcoa's demands. We want jobs that do not come at the expense of giving up the 50 year license for the Yadkin River!

2) Please give her adminstration time to determine who is the rightful owner of the Yadkin River. (SEE DETAILS BELOW)

YADKIN RIVERKEEPER CHALLENGES ALCOAS CLAIM OF RIVERBED OWNERSHIP State of North Carolina may have the right to collect additional payments from Alcoa Today Yadkin Riverkeeper submitted a request for a Declaratory Ruling by the North Carolina Secretary of Administration to determine the true ownership of the Yadkin River bed in Stanley Country in order to protect the States interests from Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. (Alcoa). Based on recently uncovered deeds, Yadkin Riverkeeper believes that the Department of Administration is overdue in challenging Alcoas assertions of ownership of the Yadkin riverbed; and that citizens of North Carolina are the rightful owners of the river itself as a Public Trust Resource. Furthermore, these deeds suggest that the State of North Carolina may be entitled to request additional payments from the owner of the deeds. In its investigation, attorneys for Yadkin Riverkeeper uncovered a series of five land grants filed with the Register of Deeds of Stanly County dating back to 1899. These grants were for land under the bed of the Yadkin River and were granted to a person named as W. Smithdeal, then to Yadkin River Power Company and eventually Carolina Power and Light. The first chain appears of record in book number 21 and page 264 of the Stanly County Register. Yadkin Riverkeeper recently contacted Alcoa requesting deeds to prove Alcoa holds title to the land but have not received a response from the company. Alcoa has repeatedly confused the public for years, claiming the company owns the land under the dams and the lakes on the Yadkin River, said Dean Naujoks, Yadkin Riverkeeper. If Alcoa cannot prove ownership, they are not entitled to another 50 year license. The state granted Duke and Progress Energy title to use the river bed on both the Pee Dee and Catawba River. We are demanding Alcoa produce deed of ownership. The Department of Administration must determine the issue of ownership once and for all. The issue of public ownership over the river bed has become a hot topic on the national stage. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from state of Montana and 26 other states who filed Amicus Briefs in support of Montana, arguing a private utility, PTL Montana, does not own the river bed. Lower courts ruled in favor of Montana to collect $53 million in back payments for use of the river bed. PPL Montana, like Alcoa, argued it owns the river bed. Public Television aired the story last week http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/julydec11/scotus_12-07.html, highlighting the potential impact of the Supreme Court limiting or overturning the public trust doctrine which is a legal principle derived from English Common Law. The essence of the doctrine is that the waters of the state are a

public resource owned by, and available to all citizens equally, for the purposes of navigation, conducting commerce, fishing, recreation and similar uses. The doctrine limits public and private use of waters beneath navigable rivers and tidal waters to protect the public's right to use the waters. Typically, private parties can only lease or get an easement to use these public resources with the understanding the state is the legitimate owner. The State of North Carolina needs to figure this out before any consideration can be given toward supporting Alcoa's 50 year re licensing bid, said Naujoks. The Governor must give The Secretary of Administration time to investigate if public land under the Yadkin River was deeded over by the state. If Alcoa cannot prove it has legitimate claim of ownership, Alcoa cannot receive another 50 year license. We cannot allow private corporations to rewrite history by eliminating the public trust doctrine that established public ownership over waters of the United States. SEE ENTIRE PRESS RELEASE (PROVIDE LINK) PLEASE CONTACT GOVERNOR BEV PERDUE TODAY!
Office of the Governor Constituent Services Office 116 West Jones Street Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 Phone: (800) 662-7952 or (919) 733-2391 Fax: (919) 733-2120 governor.office@nc.gov Email Link: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/contact/Contact.aspx