Residents packed the Loudoun Valley High School cafeteria July 20 to give their views on the environmental impact a proposed power line could have on the federal land it’s set to cover.
The Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline, known as PATH, is a proposed 275-mile, 765,000-volt power line that would stretch from West Virginia to Maryland. It would cross into Loudoun north of Lovettsville for about 10 miles along its way.
The route crosses four national parks near Harpers Ferry, W.Va., as well as the northern portion of the Monongahela National Forest in Tucker County, W.Va.
PATH’s applicants, Allegheny Power and American Electric Power, need permission from the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the line on those lands.
Those federal organizations are preparing an environmental impact statement on the project prior to deciding whether to grant the power companies access, deny them access or grant them access with certain conditions.
A previous PATH application filed in 2009 was withdrawn because newer statistics showed the line was not needed as early as previously thought.
Allegheny Energy spokesman Mark E. Nitowski said July 20 that recent statistics show that PATH will be needed in June 2015 at the latest. Earlier projections showed 2014 as the year the line would be needed.
Nitowski said that, when the new application is filed in Virginia, it will cover the same route as the one withdrawn in January.
That route, Nitowski said, parallels an existing transmission line, so it includes the least need to create new rights of way.
The July 20 meeting was the second of four sessions to be held to gather input on the environmental impact of the project.
Morgan Elmer, the project leader for the National Park Service, said that so far attendees have been stating their impressions of the entire project, instead of focusing only on its impact on the federally owned land.
“We have no responsibility on property that is not federal property,” Elmer said.
Keryn Newman, of StopPATH WV, is one of the people who would like the federal groups to take a look at the entire route, instead of just the pieces that touch federal land.
Newman, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., said the line is going to have environmental impacts, affecting the air quality and wildlife, in every jurisdiction it touches.
Her alternative is not building PATH.
“There is no need for the line,” Newman said, citing a Dominion Virginia Power study that shows that rebuilding existing lines would solve the problems of having enough electricity in 2015.
Newman said she hopes that, by the time PATH is needed, there will be clean energy alternatives that can be used instead of a power line.
A Loudoun resident that did not want to be named in print agreed that cleaner energy alternatives need to be considered, and is concerned about what route PATH might take if the federal agencies do not allow it to cross their property.
One alternative route that has been projected goes along Route 9 and is close to his home near Hillsboro.
He said that he and his wife have three young children and they are concerned about the effects the line could have on their health, as well as their property values.
“I think the whole thing is despicable,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) is also opposed to the project.
He submitted a letter to the federal organizations that stated his objections.
“I still have yet to see anything to convince me that our region needs this transmission line project,” Wolf wrote in the letter.
“Instead, all I see is that regions along the East Coast where the power will be shipped will reap the benefits while our region will only see huge, ugly towers strung with wire dotting the countryside, parks and backyards of the places we call home.”
The two additional meetings on the project’s environmental impact will be held July 21 at Tuscarora High School in Frederick, Md., and July 22 at Tucker County High School between Parsons and Davis, W.Va.
Comments also can be submitted online at http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/appa.
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In response to olderand wiser ... I would refer you to Dr, Martin blanks testimony in the state of VA concerning health effects. It is all too apherant that the health effect from high voltage power lines is extremely detrimental to people as well as livestock. Not only do we need to consider EMF radiation effects but we have to take into consideration the herbacides used to control the vegitation on these right of ways. The spray will be carried by the winds and stretch great distance from the target points. Also we need to consider the devistation and pollution created in the construction of a project of this nature. We will have streams and water sources polluted or eliminated forever. I would refer you to the TRAiL line currently being buit in WV. Now as for the need issue, PJM’S own forcast numbers show that PATH is not needed and wouldn’t be for some time, if ever. If you take a look at the facts you will see that energy usage is on the decline and has been decreasing steadily. The PATH line is simply about corporate greed and nothing else. 14.3% return on every penny spent (even if the line never goes into service) is quite an incentive. And every rate payer in the entire PJM region is currently paying for this now. This line is a means of selling cheap, coal fired power to the high priced markets of the northeast NOT HERE at all. 11 East coast governors have signed a letter stating that they are against this project and in favor of localized generation. I would agree that we need to look at ways to progress this country, but I assure you this is in no way the answer.
I grew up next to the power lines. Remember when they put them in. We used to hang out around them when we were kids, not to mention the countless time cutting hay and planting crops underneath them.
If our country is to remain strong then we need power, no doubt about it. Yes, I agree it lowers property values when you have those ugly towers to look at and the power company should pay for that, but I disagree with with the health concerns raised by many.
We tried before to stop them. Best thing to do is channel your energy into making the power company put them under the ground. Supervisors, citizens shouldn’t this idea be part of the smart growth plan so many of you all agreed to not so long ago?
That doesn’t sound nice, if there are any alternative way to put up power lines. Then why put it in a process. I think the Power Supplier must consider some consequences before putting up their power lines. They might even destroy our natural resources. And besides they should be earth friendly.
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STOP THE PATH! Health concerns alone are enough to justify termination of the project. Consider that 12 of the 13 states involved don’t want it.
Let the eastern states transport coal from WV.
I would like more information about how clean energy alternatives will make the power lines unnecessary. Are the arguments that clean energy alternatives will be smaller distributed power sources located near the power users, rather than large central power sources?
If there are any doubts about the devestation that will come along should this project be approved, spend a few minutes researching the TRAiL line (a smaller line currently being built that is wreaking total devestation on the landscape it’s crossing. While the park and forest service are only concerned with the impact on federal land, this F.E.R.C. backed project is indeed a federal project and thus subsiquent to an E.I.S. for the ENTIRE length of the line. Allegheny is intending to steal our land by use of eminent domain and we are ALREADY paying for this unneccessary and unaproved project. The PATH companies are guarenteed a 14.3% return on every penny spent EVEN IF THE LINE NEVER GOES INTO SERVICE! And I haven’t even begun on the goodies we get from this like many cancers, lower property value, increased taxes, higher electric bills, etc…
P.A.T.H. WILL KILL if allowed to be built!
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