Raleigh city council member Nancy McFarlane has resigned as head of the N.C. Water Rights Committee, a secretive group that has pushed for a state takeover of a hydroelectric project owned by Alcoa Power Generating Inc.
Don Carrington first brought the issue to light in the pages of Carolina Journal.
The News & Observer now reports:
The committee, and McFarlane’s involvement with it, has drawn some minor scrutiny as the battle between Alcoa and its opponents has spilled into the courtroom and the legislature. Alcoa is seeking to renew a 50-year license that allows it to operate the dams, but opponents want the state to acquire and operate the project.
The N.C. Water Rights Committee, a private citizens group that incorporated in May 2008, was described as a somewhat mysterious and secretive entity in a recent article in the Carolina Journal, a weekly publication owned by the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank.
In an interview conducted before McFarlane’s announcement, Roger Dick, one of the founders of the N.C. Water Rights Committee, said her lack of openness is not helping the organization.
“We don’t need people being suspicious about the N.C. Water Rights group,” said Dick, who lives in Stanly County and is the CEO of Uwharrie Capital, a holding company for several banks. “We didn’t maybe make the best choice right now with having Nancy as the president of the water rights because her political platform, I guess, is getting in the way of this.”
McFarlane, who is running for re-election in District A in October, said she is proud of the committee’s work and didn’t intend to appear tight-lipped. She said she was simply trying to choose her words carefully.
“I was just being overly cautious and I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. That’s all,” she said.
