The New York Power Authority says a letter to NYPA director of licensing John Suloway from the Local Government Task Force is without merit.

The two sides are trying to negotiate NYPA's relicensing the St. Lawrence-Roosevelt hydrodam in Massena. The license was renewed in 2003. The task force says they aren't getting a square deal, in light of what communities in western New York get out of NYPA from the Niagara power project deal.

In a letter to NYPA director of licensing John Suloway, the task force alleges that NYPA "refuses to engage, as required by law, in a good faith ten-year review," did not make required payments to the task force as per the 2003 license deal and failed to return lands in the power project to the local tax rolls.

However NYPA Spokeswoman Connie Cullen disputed the letter.

"The New York Power Authority is in full compliance with the provisions of its St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project’s federal operating license and we have the utmost confidence that this is well-demonstrated by the facts. The claims in the task force's notices of dispute are false and completely without merit."

For more info on the letter and the ongoing negotiations see earlier story.