Documents to & from the FERC

Flows and Fish Passage Settlement Agreement, (03/31/23)  [120 pages.]

• FirstLight Responds to FERC request for more information and costs of proposed measures in Flows and Fish Passage,   (05/11/23)  [14 pages of clarifications and costs]
• Comments of Peg Hall of Greening Greenfield,  (04/29/23)  [Summary of issues regarding a 50 year license, no true lower reservoir, barrier net, erosion, and financial considerations]
• Comments of Connecticut River Conservancy in Opposition to Offer of Settlement, (05/25/2023)  [110 pages (with updated signatory, 06/20/23) including expert testimony re Flows & Fish Passage of, 03/31/23]
• Comments of CT River Legislative Delegation regarding Flows and Fish Passage Settlement Agreement, (05/25/23)  [Highlights unified concerns of eight MA state Senators and Reps re inadequacies of Agreement]
• Nolumbeka Project and Tribes in opposition to Flows & Fish Passage Settlement Agreement,  (05/24/23) [Says violates Clean Water Act, ignores 10,000 years of continuous occupation, erosion issues, and more]
• Opposition to Flows & Fish Passage Settlement Agreement by UMass Amherst faculty, students, Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences,  (05/26/23 [Hydro projects striking poor balance between “very strong energy benefits and very negative environmental impacts”]
• Comments of Louise Amyot of GG (05/14/23)  [Protest against likelihood of success of nets across mouth ofNorthfield Mountain intake to protect aquatic life]
• Comments of Karl Meyer to FERC on FirstLight’s Flow and Fish Passage  (05/09/23) [Requests Intervener Status; Project constitutes a taking of the Waters of the US under Clean Water Act]
• Comments of Karl Meyer re Fish Passage(05/25/23) [Concerns re barrier net and request for webcam and access for the public]
• FirstLight Response To Comments Re Flows And Fish Passage Settlement Agreement Response, (06/12/2023)  [49 pages to say FirstLight doesn’t think anything anyone objected to is worth paying attention to]

Recreation Settlement Agreement, (06/13/23)  [142 pages, Offer of Settlement on Recreation Topics, signed by FirstLight and many others]

• Addendum with costs for Recreation projects, (12/11/23)  [Response by FirstLight to FERC’s request for costs on Recreation Settlement Agreement]
• Comments of Connecticut River Conservancy in Opposition to Recreation Settlement Agreement, (7/10/23) [8 pages detailing Recreation Settlement Agreement relationship to Flow, exclusion of CRC and non-signatories from Recreation Advisory Group]
•  Nolumbeka & Tribes object to Recreation Settlement Agreement, (07/06/23)  [Cultural Heritage concerns not covered and unrecognizable compared to original Memorandum of Understanding]
• FirstLight Response to Comments/Objections to Recreation Settlement Agreement,  (07/25/23)  [FirstLight objects to almost every comment CRC made re Recreation Settlement Agreement and Recreation Management Plan]

EROSION CONTROL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, NONE

Settlement Parties who have been negotiating for years have not reached agreement.  FirstLight put some claims under Flows and Fish Passage.

• MassDEP’s consultant review of FirstLight’s erosion reports,  (06/20/24)
• Comments of Michael Bathory, et. al, landowners of conservation land including 1,250 feet of CT River bank in Gill, (05/04/23) [Request to repair erosion, mitigate use of River as “lower reservoir” and move to zero-carbon emissions]
• Photos, erosion problems, Gill, 1960-2023, Bathery Property, (05/04/23) [Failed attempts at erosion control from 2012]

• FirstLight’s Supplemental Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model Report, (05/11/23) [FirstLight claims their study shows Northfield Mountain suction and releases are not causing erosion (it’s from motor boats and natural flow) so more water pumped to upper reservoir won’t cause any more.]
• Response of Franklin Regional Council of Governments to elements of Flows and Fish Passage dealing with erosion,  (05/24/23) [Because it and some member towns are signatories to Recreation Agreement, FRCOG not allowed to oppose Flow & Fish Passage, so only responding to lack of Erosion Agreement]

CULTURAL RESOURCES SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT,  NONE

Settlement Parties who have been negotiating for years have not reached agreement.  FirstLight put some issues  under Recreation, and some were in their original application.

• Tribe’s Comment to FERC re FirstLight, (12/05/23) [MOU on Partial Cultural Resource Settlement Agreement was never followed through on]

OTHER

• Fish Counts through Ladders 2025 , (01/22/26) [If you really want to know how many shad or lamprey made it past through the fish ladders, this is for you.]
• CRC FERC Sturgeon Notification, (10/16/24)