CONNECTICUT RIVER DEFENDERS
We come with respect for the land that is currently occupied by FirstLight. We acknowledge that it is the unceded land of the Nipmuc and Abenaki, people who lived here long before European Settlers, and still live here today. One of the pivotal demands of the Connecticut River Defenders is to return this land as a step towards reparations for the theft and ongoing trauma inflicted on them, and all Indigenous Peoples.
It is impossible to overstate the beauty and majesty of the Connecticut River as it flows south from Canada down through New England. The Abenaki people named the river Kwinetekw (Long River). The Nipmuc call it Quonektakut. The river runs 410 miles from Quebec and New Hampshire, through Vermont, south through Massachusetts and Connecticut and finally into Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Connecticut River is the lifeblood of a vast New England ecosystem. It is a widely acclaimed and recognized river. Established in 1997 the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge of its kind to encompass the entire four state Connecticut river’s watershed, and one of three refuges to mention fish in its name. The following year in 1998 the Connecticut River was honored as a Heritage River and in 2012 it was named a “National Blueway”.
Standing up for the River
The EMERGENCY ALARM is being sounded: A call to STOP the destruction of the river! FirstLight Power has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue another 50 year “License to Kill” the Connecticut River and its ecosystems. The Connecticut River Defenders stand firmly in opposition to this renewal of First Light’s license.
FirstLight currently operates the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station. This, “the most deadly machine on the river” is located in Northfield, Massachusetts 80 miles west of Boston. For more than 50 years this facility has regularly pulled the river backwards for several miles forcing it up the nearby mountain through four large turbines to a man-made mountain top reservoir. Then at peak electrical demand times it releases the water back down to travel again through these same large turbines, generating electricity and large profits for FirstLight. Nothing survives this treacherous round-trip ride. Additionally the daily tug and release of the river causes dramatic unnatural changes in water levels leading to worsening erosion, loss of farmlands, and disruption along the banks that impacts vital shoreline ecosystems. Even FirstLight admits that all life—fish, eggs, larvae, plants—are killed by the grinding and spewing action of its four huge turbines! This is FirstLight’s Dead River!
This ecological demise is furthered by FirstLight’s reliance on fossil fuels to operate its killing turbines at a rate of 1/3 more energy to pull the river up the mountain than it creates with the downhill release. FirstLight claims that hydroelectric power is clean energy, but clearly it is not. Calling it “green” and touting their achievements as a success for the environment are LIES meant to sell their product and “green wash” the public. These deceitful and harmful lies must be brought into the open and debunked! This way we can work hard to create real alternatives to address and mitigate the effects of our global climate emergency.
FirstLight is owned by a Canadian pension investment fund (Public Sector Pension),a capitalist giant that is destroying the Connecticut River for its own financial gain. In 2018 FirstLight registered itself in a Delaware tax haven. FirstLight profited $158 million on Northfield Mountain in 2019.
Connecticut River Defenders believes we cannot expect multi-national companies to act swiftly, promptly or honestly in response to our climate emergency unless we demand otherwise. As we have seen by FirstLight’s dragged out re-licensing process with over five years of delays approved by FERC, over and again First Light has misguided, deceived and suppressed the truth. It is happening right here in our own backyard and we are determined to save the life of our river. Join us in saying NO to the imminent re-licensing of the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station for another 50 years. If re-licensed FirstLight will be permitted to further perpetrate its death sentence upon the Connecticut River, and continue to threaten our very own existence.
To find out how you can get involved contact Connecticut River Defenders ctriverdefenders@gmail.com
CT River Defenders is partially funded through a grant from Markham-Nathan Fund