In an attempt to improve its public image — or, if you prefer, to increase its “community involvement” — Alcoa Corp. has been spreading money around Lee and Bastrop Counties while lobbying local governments to endorse its plans to expand mining operations to the south and west. Local papers recently featured photos of Alcoa executives delivering “grants” to the Lee Co. Courthouse, the Lee Co. Heritage Society, and the Lee Co. Extension Office, among other organizations in the Lee/Bastrop area. The Pittsburgh-based company, which seeks to mine lignite coal for its Rockdale facility, also awarded a grant of $15,000 to the city of Elgin to renovate the Chamber of Commerce building.
Stung by criticism from citizens that Alcoa was attempting to buy influence, and that the city could find support elsewhere, on Oct. 3 Elgin Mayor Eric Carlson told KXAN-TV, “I guess the bottom line is, show me the money.” In response, Lexington resident L.C. Hobbs — who accused the city of having “sold out” its citizens for Alcoa’s dollars — pledged $15,000 of his own money via the Elgin Bank. He also ran an ad in Tuesday’s Elgin Courier that said, “The check will be released when I see a picture in this paper of the City Manager returning Alcoa’s check to one of their representatives.”
Hobbs, who says Alcoa’s mining operations obstruct his land and hinder his access to his own well water, already had pledges from Elgin businesses willing to match or increase his donation. He says he is also donating $5,000 to the Neighbors for Neighbors environmental group fighting Alcoa’s expansion. “I have nothing to gain monetarily and I am 76 years old,” wrote Hobbs, “so my interest is for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who live in this area. Now do we see that my concerns are for clean air and to keep our water?”
At press time, neither Mayor Carlson nor city manager Jim Dunaway had responded to Hobbs’s offer, nor to press requests for comment.
This article appears in October 12 • 2001.
