ROCKY MOUNT, Va., March 15, 2011 – Recent heavy rains in Southwestern Virginia have washed natural and man-made debris into the two reservoirs of the Smith Mountain Hydroelectric Project and Appalachian Power is reminding area property owners of a relatively new centralized process for reporting areas of debris.
 
Residents of Smith Mountain and Leesville Lakes can call 1-800-956-4237 to report floating and dangerous debris in navigable channels. Callers should be ready to give a description and location of the debris.
The Appalachian Power CSC is available to callers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The number is the company’s Customer Solutions Center (CSC) used by Appalachian Power’s electricity customers.
 
An Appalachian CSC representative will take pertinent information from callers and forward it to the company’s Hydro Generation Department where it will be tracked and handled in accordance with new operating license requirements and relevant management plans.
 
“The two lakes encompass more than 24,000 surface acres of water and about 600 miles of shoreline with many small coves,” said Teresa Rogers, Appalachian process supervisor.  “This phone-in process allows us to more easily track where debris has accumulated.”
 
Not all debris will be removed by Appalachian.  “Our priority is debris in the main channel that presents a boating hazard.  Debris along the shoreline and in the back of coves outside of the main channel will be removed if it appears it could become a hazard to boating,” Rogers said. 
 
Debris that is considered wildlife habitat will not be removed.  There will be times when debris blocks private docks where it is the responsibility of the owner to have it removed.  
 
Boaters and others using lakes for recreational activities should be aware of floating debris, particularly after heavy local rains or upstream flooding and use safe boating practices and appropriate speed when on the water.
 
The new call-in process for the Smith Mountain Project went into effect in 2010.   
 
For other lake-related issues, such as permit applications for in-water construction, shoreline vegetation work or questions regarding the Shoreline Management Plan, residents or businesses should continue to contact the Appalachian Hydro office in Rocky Mount at 540-489-2556.
 
Smith Mountain Project is a 636-megawatt pumped storage hydroelectric facility that utilizes an upper reservoir (Smith Mountain Lake) and a lower reservoir (Leesville Lake).  Water stored in Smith Mountain Lake first passes through turbine-generators in the powerhouse to produce electricity and is discharged into Leesville Lake.  Most of the water is retained in Leesville Lake and pumped back into the Smith Mountain Lake for re-use.  A portion of the water goes through the turbine-generators at the Leesville powerhouse to generate additional electricity and to meet the minimum discharge requirements of the project´s operating license. 
 
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. 
 
 
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