Watershed Update, Spring 2002

AMENDMENT 14 – RECREATIONAL BOATING USE ON THE CHATTOOGA WILD AND SCENIC RIVER

Private paddlers best fit the wilderness experience that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was written to preserve.

The Forest Service has released their Environmental Assessment analyzing proposed changes to the management of boating on the Chattooga River. Comments on the assessment were due at the end of May, and a decision is expected in the near future. The changes to the 1985 Sumter Forest Plan being considered are: adjusting the daily limits for private boaters, increasing flexibility for the commercial rafting companies, and granting more commercial shuttle permits.

The alternative preferred by Michael Crane, District Ranger of the Andrew Pickens District, is outlined in the environmental assessment. Private boating limits on Section III would be established at 175 people per day on weekends and 125 on weekdays. Section IV allocations would be increased to 160 per day on weekends and 75 on weekdays. Hourly capacities for both sections would be dropped. If those limits are exceeded, the following year a reservation system, with a required fee, would be put into effect. Allowing more than one shuttle permit is also in the “preferred alternative.” For commercial raft trips, the change to the current definition of “raft” would allow for the use of inflatable kayaks (“duckies”). Individual trip limits would be raised from 30 customers to 40, although daily limits remain the same. Commercial trips would be permitted to move from Sections III and IV to Sections I or II. Twelve craft, up from the current seven, would be allowed on Sections III and IV based on water levels.

The Chattooga Conservancy strongly objects to Amendment 14. This proposal is based on demand, rather than consideration of the wilderness experience that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was written to preserve. Opportunities for self-reliance, the development of outdoor skills and a place to restore the soul through solitude are part of the experience the river management plan is tasked with preserving. We believe that private boating best fulfills these goals set forth by Congress, and that commercial allocations should be reduced to equal private boating limits. Additional shuttle permits would increase the number of de facto commercial outfitters (shuttle permittees who could outfit, drop off and pick up their customers) and also poses a safety risk, making it easier for uninformed and/or unskilled boaters to access the river. The environmental impact of increased trip size and commercial trips on Sections I and II cannot be dismissed. The Chattooga River was declared a Wild and Scenic river in order to protect and preserve the natural beauty and habitat we are fortunate to enjoy. Over commercialization will only destroy this rare opportunity for all, today and for generations to come.

HEMLOCK WOOLLY ADELGID – YOU CAN HELP

There is an initiative in Washington to fund the USDA Forest Service with $25 million over the next five years, which would be earmarked to fight the hemlock woolly adelgid. These funds may be attached to the fiscal year 2003 budget. To make it to the floor of Congress, the funds will have to be approved by the Natural Resources and Appropriations Committees. You can help by lobbying your legislators with telephone calls and letters asking them to support this funding. Please contact the following Chattooga River watershed federal delegates, who are on the Appropriations Committee:

Representative Charles Taylor (NC)
231 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Senator Ernest Hollings (SC)
US Senate
Washington, DC 20515

RABUN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION GRANTED LAND

Rabun County Board of Education was granted 45 acres of Chattahoochee National Forest land off of Boggs Mountain Road by the Forest Service, under the Education Land Grant Act. A new elementary school will be built on the site. The Chattooga Conservancy is concerned about future land trades of the isolated Forest Service tracts on Boggs Mountain created by this land grant. Land swaps of those tracts could lead to development on steep slopes that certainly would acerbate the serious and chronic pollution problems of Stekoa Creek. We urge the Forest Service to retain in the national forest system those tracts that lie above and along Stekoa Creek.

RABUN COUNTY POWER LINE UPDATE THE BATTLE GOES ON

This pristine forest protects drinking water for residents downstream of Tiger and Timpson Creeks. Photo by Amanda Larkin.

On April 15th, Judge Struble struck down the Rabun County High Voltage Moratorium Ordinance, which had been in place since June 2000. Rabun County is appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Robert Denham, attorney for Rabun County, argues that the moratorium does not negate eminent domain, but rather it dictates what type of power lines Georgia Transmission Corporation can build. Denham claims the power companies still “have the power of eminent domain if what they use it for is reasonably necessary and appropriate.” His argument is that the future needs of Habersham Electric Membership Cooperative (HEMC) customers can be met by lower voltage distribution lines. According to Dr. Robert Broadwater, an electrical engineer contracted by the Chattooga Conservancy, Georgia Transmission Corporation’s (GTC) 115 kV proposal is seven to 10 times what is needed.

While Rabun County awaits a Supreme Court decision, GTC is waiting for the Forest Service to permit their power line through old growth forests and sensitive habitat on the Chattahoochee National Forest. The Forest Service expects to complete an Environmental Assessment by July of this year. We urge citizens to request that the Forest Service perform a full Environmental Impact Statement of GTC’s request to use our public lands for their private profit. The old growth forest that protects the drinking water sources for Tiger and Timpson Creek residents is no place for a power line.

CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST

Our readers may recall the Chattooga Conservancy’s challenge (in 1998) of the re-licensing proceedings for the Oconee Nuclear Station, which is located close by the Chattooga River watershed (the entire Chattooga watershed lies within the nuclear station’s 50-mile evacuation zone).

We filed a “petition to intervene,” giving reasons why the nuclear station’s license to operate should not be extended beyond its original decommissioning time of 2013. Our concerns were that standard nuclear reactor operating conditions involve extreme temperatures, pressures, and radiation bombardment, causing cracks and other safety problems with reactor vessel components and cooling systems. We argued that these known engineering failures, as well as other potential problems, presented risks to the public that would grow greater as the nuclear station aged. So, surely the Oconee Nuclear Station should not continue to operate beyond its intended “shelf life.” But both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry vigorously denied the validity of our concerns, and the extension was granted.

Damage recently found on a reactor head control rod nozzle at the Oconee Nuclear Station.

In May 2002 we learned that 23 new cracks were recently discovered at the Oconee Nuclear Station’s three reactors. The cracks were in the “control rod nozzles,” which enter the reactor core from the top and serve to stop the nuclear chain reaction. Control rod nozzle cracking causes water to leak from the reactor head, where a catastrophic failure could lead to water pouring out faster than it could be replaced by emergency cooling systems. In a worst-case-scenario, a meltdown could occur and radiation would be released into the surrounding environment. Industry experts stated “it was material degradation that wasn’t expected.”

The Chattooga Conservancy joins experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists in asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take real steps to protect public health and safety, by mandating the replacement of reactor vessel heads having defective nozzles, and upgrading nuclear plants’ monitoring systems. Of course, we still believe that the Oconee Nuclear Station should be shut down as originally designed, or sooner.