TURNERS FALLS — Following FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s agreement in principle with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on March 17, a group of protesters held a “Day of Mourning” for the Connecticut River on the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge Saturday.
The group, led by Greenfield resident Karl Meyer, said relicensing the Northfield Mountain pumped storage project, which reverses the flow of the Connecticut River to generate energy, would sentence fish to death as they are minced up by the machine’s turbines. The facility is described as a “giant water battery” on FirstLight’s website.
FirstLight, which is owned by Canadian-based PSP Investments, applied for a 50-year license with FERC in December 2020, which would determine how the pumped storage facility at Northfield Mountain and two hydroelectric dams in Turners Falls will operate for the next half century.
With an agreement in principle in place regarding FirstLight’s hydropower-related flows and fish passage plans, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, National Marine Fisheries Service, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are negotiating a final settlement agreement, which they hope to sign by June 30.
Speaking on the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge Saturday, Meyer paraphrased McDonald’s famous “billions and billions served” catchphrase, saying that, if the license is granted, the Northfield facility would decimate countless fish over the course of the 50-year license.
“Billions and billions killed,” Meyer said. “And billions to come.”
In November, FirstLight Director of Government Affairs and Communications Len Greene said in a statement that the company has committed $130 million in new investments to “eliminate the entrainment of fish” into Northfield Mountain, while allowing the facility to continue generating electricity. The company plans to install a ¾-inch mesh to keep fish out of harm’s way.
“The barrier net is designed to prevent the entrainment of fish into the plant,” Greene said previously. “It will not impede the migration of fish upstream of the plant. The proposal will help protect fish while maintaining the continued operation of the facility, which will play a vital role in the decarbonization of our electric grid.”
Meyer said these precautions are not sufficient and relicensing Northfield Mountain “condones 5 miles of the Connecticut River being sucked in reverse.” Representatives from the Greenfield-based Connecticut River Conservancy have also argued that the protections outlined in the agreement in principle fall short of acceptable.
Meyer added that the facility goes against the 1872 Supreme Court decision in Holyoke Co. v. Lyman, which declared that companies operating dams must ensure safe passage of fish upstream.
“It’s been illegal since the day it opened,” he said, adding that no one has challenged FirstLight because “there is no watchdog or enforcement of environmental law” in Massachusetts.
Meyer was joined on the bridge by more than two dozen other community members, including Don Pugh, a Wendell resident and fish biologist.
Pugh said this relicensing process has been a “real standard process” because FirstLight makes it easy for FERC to sign the paperwork and no one will challenge it.
“You might as well not even try,” Pugh said. “It keeps FERC from working.”
He added that the Northfield facility “absolutely” shreds fish and will have serious consequences for the ecosystem.
“It’s really bad,” he said.
While the relicensing process has had open public comment portions, many in attendance, including Wendell resident Morgan Mead, said they feel like they were ignored.
“Hell no,” Mead said when asked if public input was taken under advisement by FirstLight. “All they listen to is money.”
Mead said the agreement in principle marks “the last time in a long time” that FirstLight can be stopped and federal agencies like FERC have not protected wildlife. He added that he will keep making his voice heard.
“I’ll continue to make noise,” Mead said. “Power to the people, power to the fish.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.