The North Carolina Water Rights Committee authorized Hamilton Campaigns of Washington, D.C. to conduct a telephone poll of 500 likely N.C. voters between June 30 and July 1. The poll occurred after several legislators and citizens disputed results of a recent previous survey created on behalf of Alcoa as being slanted in the wording of its questions. The margin of error for a sample of this size is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, at the 95 percent confidence level.
The Stanly County Commissioners are on record as opposing Alcoa’s operation of the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project and has asked the state intervene in the matter, saying that the state’s water rights for a public resource such as the Yadkin River should take precedence over a private firm such as Alcoa having an unlimited monopoly on it. Similar resolutions have been signed by Davidson, Randolph, Iredell, Anson, Cabarrus and Union County Boards of Commissioners, as well as the Centralina Council of Governments.
Governor Mike Easley, Lieutenant Governor and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger have all sent letters to FERC requesting that it delay its decision so the matter can further be studied by the state. Based on this poll, the voters of North Carolina overwhelmingly agree.
Recently, in a bi-partisan effort, several members of the North Carolina General Assembly introduced language to create a commission that would study the impacts of FERC granting a 50-year license to Alcoa Power Generating Inc.’s operations on the river. The provision was under discussion as part of the state’s budget legislation, but may end up being debated separate and apart from the state budget bill. State Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand has noted that the only people to contact him to oppose the study provision have been lobbyists for Alcoa.
Key findings of the survey include:
• Six out of 10 voters say they agree with people who say the State of North Carolina should take a limited time period to study the license renewal because this issue will affect our economy, the environment, and our access to water for the next 50 years.
• An overwhelming majority (86 percent) say rights to water in the Yadkin River should be managed and controlled by the people of North Carolina.
• A similar majority (87 percent) say the most important use of water in the Yadkin River is to ensure that there is adequate drinking water during the current drought.
The political affiliations of the survey respondents were 46 percent registered Democrat, 35 percent registered Republican and 19 percent registered independent/
The gender of respondents was 48 percent male and 52 percent female. Residency in the state broke down to 68 percent saying more than 10 years, 23 percent saying they were born in North Carolina or natives of the state, 8 percent saying 6-10 years, 7 percent saying 1-5 years, and less than 1 percent each saying less than a year, they did not know or refused to answer. The regional locations of the respondents were 36 percent in western North Carolina, 30 percent in the Raleigh area, 19 percent in the Greensboro area and 15 percent in eastern North Carolina. Racial composition was 78 percent white, 18 percent black, and 1 percent each saying they were Hispanic, native American, other, or did not know or refused to answer. The age ranges were 20 percent age 70 and up, 14 percent 60-64, 11 percent 45-49, 10 percent 55-59, 9 percent both 50-54 and 60-64, 8 percent both 18-30 and 40-44, 6 percent 35-39 and 5 percent 30-34.
Documents outlining survey questions and results, their exact wording and their percentage of responses are available online at www.mmimarketing.com.
Quotes:
“The results of this poll not only indicate support for our position on North Carolina’s water rights and the need for the state to intervene and study the issue, but they also refute Alcoa’s claims from its distorted survey,” said Stanly County Commissioner and North Carolina Water Rights Committee member Lindsey Dunevant. “We believe our findings are free of bias, certainly much more than what occurred in the Alcoa poll, and we will gladly allow anyone to review the exact wording of the questions as well as how the survey was conducted. Most importantly, we are heartened to learn that a majority of North Carolinians in every region of the state believe that our natural resources such as the Yadkin River belong to the people rather than a private company exploiting it for profit, and we urge our legislators to keep that in mind when deciding whether to create a study commission on the Project this session.”
About N.C. Water Rights Committee:
The N.C. Water Rights Committee is a coalition of North Carolina businesses and concerned citizens who have joined this state-wide effort to inform citizens of the critical issues and decisions concerning water rights that affect all North Carolinians now and for many decades to come. For more information, visit www.ncwaterrights.org.
About This Effort:
In 1958, Alcoa, the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum, secured a federal hydroelectric license for the Yadkin Project on the Yadkin River in Stanly, Davidson, Montgomery and Rowan Counties in the Central Piedmont. In return, Alcoa promised aluminum manufacturing jobs for Stanly County for years to come. Alcoa has now essentially disappeared as a major employer in the region and shut down its manufacturing plants, but it wants to continue reaping the benefits of the Yadkin River after its license expires in April of this year. In addition, Alcoa discharged hazardous pollutants into North Carolina air and waterways for decades while harvesting immense profits from the Yadkin River, but has yet to finish cleaning up that contamination. It has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to obtain another 50-year license. If Alcoa is successful, one of North Carolina’s most valuable water resources will be used to maximize Alcoa’s profits, instead of being used to benefit the people of North Carolina, who themselves are in dire need of affordable electricity, local economic development, and clean, adequate drinking water.
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
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