Massena dam studies deemed complete

MASSENA — The Massena Electric Department has cleared a major hurdle in its efforts to build a hydroelectric dam on the Grasse River.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has determined MED's environmental and community impact studies are complete. The utility is now cleared to begin drafting a formal application for a federal license to build and operate the proposed facility.

The utility has been studying various attributes of the river and ways its proposed hydroelectric facility might affect those attributes for four years.

Study teams have investigated potential impacts to fish and animal populations — including special studies conducted on mussels, small organisms consumed by fish and threatened species like lake sturgeon — as well as possible shoreline erosion, flooding and ice impacts and the effects the project might have on municipal water and sewer systems, water quality and cultural resources.

Agencies and groups deemed to have an interest in the project also are included in this study process. In addition to working with FERC on its studies, MED has involved a number of other agencies and groups, including the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

Those groups have raised a number of concerns pertaining to MED's studies, requested that additional data be provided on certain topics and asked for more in-depth investigations of certain issues. In a series of letters and meetings with interested parties and FERC, MED has addressed those concerns and added or expanded studies accordingly.

Finally, in a 27-page report issued by FERC last week, federal officials determined that MED's investigations up to this point are sufficient and that any lingering questions can be addressed when the utility makes a formal application for a license.

"The response FERC gave us validates the work we've done," MED Superintendent Andrew J. McMahon said. "It accepts what we've done as being complete and corroborates that we've adequately characterized the river so we can begin to design the facility. Everything that we've been asked to do, we've done."

While FERC officials recognized in their ruling that there were still points of disagreement between MED and some agencies on the effects of damming the Grasse River in Massena, the federal agency has decided not to require that MED add or change the studies it has completed to address those concerns.

Instead, MED will be asked to touch on those concerns as part of its license application.