The proposed Kiamichi River hydroelectric project is drawing more opposition in southeast Oklahoma.
It’s what Southwest Ledger reporter Mike Ray discovered in his investigation into the project.
By Mike W. Ray
More than 450 people, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Pushmataha and Choctaw County boards of commissioners, Congressman Josh Brecheen (R-Oklahoma), Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond – and even a mythical character – have expressed opposition to the proposed hydropower plant that would be constructed in on the Kiamichi River in Pushmataha County to generate electricity exclusively for Texas.
Rebecca Stenner of Clayton wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that the Kiamichi “not only serves the Pushmataha County area, but pours life and water into other areas such as Hugo Lake and the Red River (which in turn serves …Louisiana and Texas in addition to Oklahoma).”
“There are compacts already in place concerning the Kiamichi River,” she added.
There also is a Red River Compact that allocates the waters of the Red River and its tributaries. That agreement was signed in 1978 by Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana; was ratified by each of those states; was approved by Congress and signed by the President of the United States.
And in 2013 the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously upheld an Oklahoma law that forbids the out-of-state sale or exportation of water; the Court ruled that “Texas cannot reach across the border to claim a share of the Kiamichi River,” Stenner continued. “Since the electricity generated by this project would be going to Texas, I see this as Texas” stretching its greedy arms into southeastern Oklahoma.
Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation’s proposed project is “causing concern among locals, especially since the region has recently seen a surge in tourism from visitors who come to enjoy the river and the surrounding area,” noted Rylee Dean of Talihina.
One of those concerned citizens is David L. Estep of Talihina. If the proposed hydropower project is allowed, “it will affect my financial well-being,” he wrote, “due to the fact that” businesses heavily reliant on tourism “will be lost” if FERC green-lights the SEOPC project.
Estep also contended that he would lose money “if I have to sell my home and property.” That’s because “property values will decrease because no one wants to live in an area where you can’t enjoy the natural surroundings…”
Jimmee Sue Jackson of Clayton, who said she has lived in southeastern Oklahoma “all my life,” wrote that the SEOPC project “isn’t just about abstract ideas or statistics. It’s personal. It’s about my home, my family, and our way of life.” If FERC approves the hydroelectric power project, “it could seriously mess with our property and livelihoods.”
Jackson doesn’t want life in southeastern Oklahoma “disrupted by some big corporation’s profit-driven scheme.” Area residents “deserve better than to have our homes and environment sacrificed for someone else’s bottom line.”
Anthony Demarco Fowler of Tuskahoma wrote that SEOPC “fails to identify the significant environmental impacts of this project…” He also said he worries “about the future of my job” at a ranch near Albion, “as it will no longer exist” if the hydropower project is approved.
Artina Harkins of Talihina wrote, “My concern is that this project is not going to be as viable as SEOPC anticipates it to be, and they won’t figure it out until after the local population has been forcibly removed from their homes and the landscape, wildlife, habitats, and the Kiamichi River have been irrevocably altered.”
An 11-year-old Talihina boy informed FERC and SEOPC in a handwritten note that the Kiamichi River “is near my farm and I want to still have it. Please leave us alone.”
A similar letter advised FERC that, “This is my home; do not destroy my home.” The letter was signed: Bigfoot, which listed its address as the 1.8 million-acre Ouachita National Forest in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas.
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