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By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 08:12 p.m. EDT, Jun 13, 2009
A long and heated battle over adding hydroelectric facilities to a Cuyahoga River dam between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls appears over.
The Fairlawn company that wanted to generate electricity in the Gorge Metro Park is dropping its preliminary federal permit for the project.
Metro Hydroelectric Co. LLC released a two-page letter late Friday in which it said it is surrendering its permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and terminating the project.
That means that the $4 million project first proposed six years ago by the company is dead, said Irving Sugerman, the attorney representing Metro Parks, Serving Summit County.
The project would have produced enough electricity to power 2,000 homes but had come under heavy fire from municipalities, government agencies and environmental groups.
Park officials are ''very pleased'' that the company is ending its efforts to add hydroelectric facilities to the 57-foot-high Ohio Edison Co. dam, Sugarman said.
The park district had refused permission for the company to go on park property and said it opposed the project.
Park officials remain convinced that the project was ''ill-advised and ill-conceived,'' Sugarman said.
It is possible the company could again seek federal approval for the project but that appears unlikely, Sugerman said.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is pleased that the Cuyahoga River ''won't be compromised'' by the facility, said spokesman Steve Tuckerman.
The agency intends to keep trying to bring the Cuyahoga River into full attainment of federal-state water standards, he said.
His agency has suggested that the dam be removed because of its negative affect on water quality.
''What a huge victory for the river,'' said Elaine Marsh of Bath Township, a spokeswoman for the Friends of the Crooked River, an Akron-based grass-roots eco-group devoted to the Cuyahoga River.
''This has been a long, hard battle, a long ordeal, and we're ecstatic that it's finally at an end. We're doing a little dance here. We really are happy. That's great news. . . .And a tip of the hat to our heroes: Metro Parks and the EPA.''
Company blames park
The company took a shot at the park district and the EPA for their strong opposition to its project.
''As the management team of MHC, we are also local residents and it saddens us to see how a few opponents of the project denied the community this socially responsible opportunity. However, Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, has chosen to block our efforts, not even allowing us to conduct the environmental studies which would have demonstrated the benign nature of this project,'' company spokesman M. Clifford Phillips said in the letter.
He questioned why the park district would oppose an environmentally friendly, nonpolluting energy source that would result in less coal being burned to produce electricity.
''The opponents of this green-renewable project — the park along with the North East office of the EPA, and other single-priority interest groups, with their penchant for making derogatory statements about our company and its intentions — has put us in an untenable position,'' he said.
The company has gotten warm welcomes in other states where it is pursuing hydroelectric projects, Phillips said.
''Hence as a practical matter, we will turn our attention away from Ohio and focus on our mission to develop other hydro projects,'' he said.
Lengthy dispute
In 2006, the company sued the park district over blocking access to the Gorge.
U.S. District Judge John Adams allowed the company limited access to the park for preliminary tests. The park district appealed.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Adams and said the case should be returned to Akron for dismissal because there was no federal jurisdiction.
Metro Hydroelectric has said it has a valid right to use the dam and the parkland because of easements granted in 1929 to Ohio Edison and later transferred to the company. That question was never resolved in court.
The company was under a federal deadline to make progress or risk losing its preliminary permit for the Gorge project.
Metro Hydroelectric wanted to funnel water over and down the Ohio Edison dam to power a turbine, which would have been housed in a new building about 400 feet downstream.
That structure was to be built on park land on the Akron side of the river.
The power generated, about 2.5 megawatts, was to be sold to FirstEnergy Corp.
The project was attractive to FirstEnergy because it had halted any dam-removal efforts by the Ohio EPA.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
A long and heated battle over adding hydroelectric facilities to a Cuyahoga River dam between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls appears over.
The Fairlawn company that wanted to generate electricity in the Gorge Metro Park is dropping its preliminary federal permit for the project.
Metro Hydroelectric Co. LLC released a two-page letter late Friday in which it said it is surrendering its permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and terminating the project.
That means that the $4 million project first proposed six years ago by the company is dead, said Irving Sugerman, the attorney representing Metro Parks, Serving Summit County.
The project would have produced enough electricity to power 2,000 homes but had come under heavy fire from municipalities, government agencies and environmental groups.
Park officials are ''very pleased'' that the company is ending its efforts to add hydroelectric facilities to the 57-foot-high Ohio Edison Co. dam, Sugarman said.
The park district had refused permission for the company to go on park property and said it opposed the project.
Park officials remain convinced that the project was ''ill-advised and ill-conceived,'' Sugarman said.
It is possible the company could again seek federal approval for the project but that appears unlikely, Sugerman said.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is pleased that the Cuyahoga River ''won't be compromised'' by the facility, said spokesman Steve Tuckerman.
The agency intends to keep trying to bring the Cuyahoga River into full attainment of federal-state water standards, he said.
His agency has suggested that the dam be removed because of its negative affect on water quality.
''What a huge victory for the river,'' said Elaine Marsh of Bath Township, a spokeswoman for the Friends of the Crooked River, an Akron-based grass-roots eco-group devoted to the Cuyahoga River.
''This has been a long, hard battle, a long ordeal, and we're ecstatic that it's finally at an end. We're doing a little dance here. We really are happy. That's great news. . . .And a tip of the hat to our heroes: Metro Parks and the EPA.''
Company blames park
The company took a shot at the park district and the EPA for their strong opposition to its project.
''As the management team of MHC, we are also local residents and it saddens us to see how a few opponents of the project denied the community this socially responsible opportunity. However, Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, has chosen to block our efforts, not even allowing us to conduct the environmental studies which would have demonstrated the benign nature of this project,'' company spokesman M. Clifford Phillips said in the letter.
He questioned why the park district would oppose an environmentally friendly, nonpolluting energy source that would result in less coal being burned to produce electricity.
''The opponents of this green-renewable project — the park along with the North East office of the EPA, and other single-priority interest groups, with their penchant for making derogatory statements about our company and its intentions — has put us in an untenable position,'' he said.
The company has gotten warm welcomes in other states where it is pursuing hydroelectric projects, Phillips said.
''Hence as a practical matter, we will turn our attention away from Ohio and focus on our mission to develop other hydro projects,'' he said.
Lengthy dispute
In 2006, the company sued the park district over blocking access to the Gorge.
U.S. District Judge John Adams allowed the company limited access to the park for preliminary tests. The park district appealed.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Adams and said the case should be returned to Akron for dismissal because there was no federal jurisdiction.
Metro Hydroelectric has said it has a valid right to use the dam and the parkland because of easements granted in 1929 to Ohio Edison and later transferred to the company. That question was never resolved in court.
The company was under a federal deadline to make progress or risk losing its preliminary permit for the Gorge project.
Metro Hydroelectric wanted to funnel water over and down the Ohio Edison dam to power a turbine, which would have been housed in a new building about 400 feet downstream.
That structure was to be built on park land on the Akron side of the river.
The power generated, about 2.5 megawatts, was to be sold to FirstEnergy Corp.
The project was attractive to FirstEnergy because it had halted any dam-removal efforts by the Ohio EPA.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
akron, oh
Posted 08:54 PM, 06/13/2009
The hydroelectric plan makes way to much sense for Akron!
Posted 10:31 PM, 06/13/2009
that dam shouldn't even be there. i wish they would just get rid of it and let the river flow like it was meant to.
Akron, , OH
Posted 10:43 PM, 06/13/2009
Here's where great ideas and the coal burning cartel separate!!
Make sense ... don't even think about it!!
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 11:47 PM, 06/13/2009
Would anyone like to have a windmill in their backyard? Clean never ending energy, "Poof!" More jobs leaving the state? "Yep!" Liberal nimrods running the show here locally? "What do you think?"
somewhere near you, OH
Posted 01:45 AM, 06/14/2009
NEO doesn't have enough sunny days to justify solar. It does have water. Why not use it?
Akron, Oh
Posted 08:07 AM, 06/14/2009
This is whats wrong with enviro groups, cant build
nuke plants, cant build hydro plants etc. but we want energy. Wake up stupid people
Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 08:10 AM, 06/14/2009
Just another huge step backwards for northeast Ohio, due to the blindness of the "leadership" in Akron. It is time to divide up Akron into sections and have it annexed into the smaller communities surrounding it.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:11 AM, 06/14/2009
Besides the building witht the turbine being on park land, does anyone else have a more conclusive reason why this SHOULD NOT be done? A $4M investment would be recouped pretty quick on 2000 homes. Why didn't the MetroParks just strong arm them for a major share of the profits? Money for the parks and a "Green Project" our area can brag about. Seemed like a win-win to me, but what do I know.
:0/
Akron, OH
Posted 08:25 AM, 06/14/2009
Hmm, too bad for the project. I thought it a great idea, since we had that there once upon a time anyway.
I think the park system fell flat on their face on this one.
The crooked river folks, though well intentioned, obviously have no vision for the future.
Work Hard...Stay in School, OH
Posted 08:50 AM, 06/14/2009
There was never any proof that this project would work in the first place, that is why it failed to get approved. The only reason for it was to lease the property to this MHC for 50 years to prevent First Energy from having to removing the dam and cleaning up the toxic mess behind it.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:59 AM, 06/14/2009
rjtrains What does Akron leadership have to do with this. It was the falls people ,Oh I see you live there. How would splitting up Akron help?We need less government not more.
Posted 09:28 AM, 06/14/2009
Makes too much sense. Renewable energy in our back yards. This tells us the greenees real objective, no energy at all.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 09:33 AM, 06/14/2009
Excellent - the hydro plant would have destroyed the beauty of the river.
Rootstown, Oh
Posted 09:53 AM, 06/14/2009
Water and energy are serious concerns for all of us and will become larger concerns as our consumption continues unabated. This problem will not be solved by importing from China. Although solar panels and windmills operating at your local WalMarket, Lowest, or Home Decor could become a reality.
Akron, OH
Posted 11:09 AM, 06/14/2009
Typical of the "greenies" . We tell the world it is OK to build nuclear power plants in your countriesbut we can't. We have a "green" source of power available in this hydro. plant.. BUT .. One of these days we are going to be "BUT" out of energy.. then what?
Akron, OH
Posted 11:10 AM, 06/14/2009
As anyone who has those low power solar panel lawn lights will tell you... We simply do not have enough sunlight around these parts to make solar a truly viable option.
akron, oh
Posted 12:48 PM, 06/14/2009
This hydro plant was a great idea. The biggest reason protesters gave against it was because they say it would prevent the fish from swimming upstream. That excuse is SUCH BS! The fish couldn't make it passed that point in the river anyway (there is a gorge there!). Putting the bs aside, this was prevented from happening because too many greedy people wanted a piece of the pie,and there wasn't enough to go around. I know, I'm the person who first proposed this idea to the local governments of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls back in 1996!
Akron, OH
Posted 01:02 PM, 06/14/2009
@stleo Great idea.. but are you really surprised that it went up in flames??
Posted 01:07 PM, 06/14/2009
oops. I meant nmaxxs not beta.
AKRON, OH
Posted 01:28 PM, 06/14/2009
THIS DAM IS ALREADY IN PLACE - SEEMS LIKE A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HYDROELECTRIC OPTION. THE ENVIRO-CRAZIES WILL ALWAYS SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANYTHING THAT BENDS A BLADE OF GRASS, MAKES ALOT MORE SENSE THAN STORING CO2 UNDERGROUND
Posted 01:30 PM, 06/14/2009
B***ch about electric prices, B***tch about gas prices, but God forbid anyone tries to do anything about it. You don't want a source of free electric power in Hydro, You don't want a nuclear plant, No solar, nor do you want a windmill...
JC... you can't make any of them happy.
"...Excellent - the hydro plant would have destroyed the beauty of the river..."
Hah! The Cuyahoga will NEVER be a beautiful river.
I've fly fished all over the world and have seen the prettiest rivers and stream on earth. The Cuyahoga isn't even CLOSE...
You need to travel more. ;)
Posted 05:02 PM, 06/14/2009
I mis-spelled dam (on purpose, as a joke) and they pulled my entire post.
Posted 08:59 PM, 06/14/2009
Hey Grump, I thought you were one of the posters wanting us to get off oil. Make up your mind, get off oil and use renewables or drill. Or are you one of those NYMBY people?
forestville, ca
Posted 09:57 PM, 06/14/2009
follow the money !!
Richfield, OH
Posted 09:38 AM, 06/15/2009
So much for Green energy. You can't build hydro, you can't build windmills off the ocean, you can't put solar in the dessert.
Where do the Greenies want to put their green energy solutions?
akron, oh
Posted 12:36 PM, 06/15/2009
stelo,
Is that true that one of the reasons was b/c fish couldnt get upstream? It says the dam is 57 ft. high. I have a hard time believing a fish could get up that.
Posted 12:38 PM, 06/15/2009
So, the "friends of the Metroparks" can go sit in their 4000 sq ft homes in Bath and generate all the carbon emissions they want but they oppose hydroelectric power.
nmaxxs - this company builds real hydroelectric plants, not coverups for First Energy. Saying that there is no proof it would work is like saying there is no proof that gravity works. It's already been done hundreds (thousands?) or times.
Posted 01:54 PM, 06/15/2009
More short sightedness for Ohio, as it continues on the path toward 3rd world economics.
Akron, OH
Posted 04:40 PM, 06/15/2009
It sounds like there are a lot of pros and cons for and against this project. I think it's a good idea to set up a hydro plant if it's not going to negatively impact the environment around it. I went to the Gorge for the first time this past fall and I thought it was beautiful. I've been around the world and back and I've never seen the leaves on the trees during the fall look as vibrant as they did there. I saw the sign saying SAVE THE GORGE...(or whatever it said) and I immediately wanted to save it. However, with further thought, I find that a hydro plant would do more good than harm if it's done right...You're never going to please everyone...The wacko Greenies and the money hungry business folk don't have the best interest of the group in mind. They only have their OWN interests in mind...there had to have been a compromise where every one got what they wanted, but everyone couldn't see past the end of their own nose...This resulted in absolutely nothing happening but a huge waste of time and money simple talking about something...
akron, oh
Posted 05:15 PM, 06/15/2009
@ygogolak: Yes, the big sign that was placed in Gorge Park states very clearly that the fish migration is the Parkboard's big objection to the hydro-plant.
akron, oh
Posted 05:18 PM, 06/15/2009
@nmaxxs: firstenergy doesn't have anything to do with this project or the old coalburner that was torn down.
