Montague, Gill, Northfield and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments have written letters to federal regulators protesting proposed expedited approval of separate licenses for the Northfield Mountain and Turners Falls hydroelectric projects.
The filings come in response to FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s Dec. 20 application to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to divide its Northfield Mountain and Turners Falls projects into separate holding companies – FirstLight MA Hydro LLC and Northfield Mountain LLC. The application also seeks to make both entites the applicants for relicensing the projects.
In comments submitted to meet Thursday’s dealine, the towns and COG are protesting the application, including FirstLight’s request for expediting the process for grant approval by March 31.
Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, the Connecticut River Conservancy, the Nolumbeka Project, Appalachian Mountain Club, American Whitewater and New England FLOW also submited comments to FERC.
The towns and COG suggest a 90-day comment period, along with stopping “the clock” if the federal government shuts down as it did in recent weeks.
Montague Selectboard Chairman Richard Kuklewicz wrote that a 90-day period would give the town more time to understand the application and its impact.
If FERC grants intervenor status, the towns and organizations would be able to comment on and appeal a decision on the projects.
The letters, which also call on FERC to deny FirstLight’s application, raise concerns about separating the two projects because they operate as a system and are dependent upon one another.
“The environmental impacts from one project can’t be evaluated and mitigated in isolation,” wrote FRCOG Executive Committee Chairman Jay DiPucchio.
The COG’s Connecticut River Streambank Erosion Committee, focused on the extensive erosion in a 20-mile-long stretch of Connecticut River that it says is caused by the Northfield Mountain project, has worked with FirstLight to develop bioengineering bank stabilization projects.
One article in FirstLight’s proposed new license would make the company responsible for “minimiz(ing) erosion and siltation on lands adjacent to the stream resulting from construction and operation of the project.” Yet the COG raises concerns that multiple layers of owernship would limit liability for the plants.
“It appears FirstLight is creating a multi-layer, limited liability structure to avoid or limit the amount that can be paid for Protection, Mitigation and Enhancement measures that will likely be required under the new FERC license,” wrote DiPucchio. “It is not surprising that FirstLight Hydro is going to great lengths to shield Northfield Mountain from having to implement costly (measures) … especially those related to erosion and river health.”
The COG also argued the environmental impacts of one project cannot be evaluated without looking at the larger picture.
Northfield says in its letter it is unsatisfied with FirstLight’s erosion mitigation work.
The Northfield Conservation Commission has not issued a Certificate of Compliance for bank stabilization work nor has it received monitoring reports, according to Town Administrator, Andrea Llamas.
“There are ongoing problems with the quality of the work, such that one site has been worked on three times and has not been successful,” Llamas wrote. “The Commission also feels that the quality of the work has declined over time, and that there has been constant effort by FirstLight Hydro to attribute all erosion to recreational boating.”