
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 13, 1993                   TAG: 9310130100
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Short

COURT: PROOF OF DANGER NOT NECESSARY TO WIN

Owners of property near high-voltage power lines can be awarded damages when "cancerphobia" lowers their property value, even without proof of a health risk, New York's highest court ruled Tuesday.

The Court of Appeals decision could prove expensive for the New York Power Authority, which is involved in litigation with 47 property owners over damages stemming from completion of the Marcy-South Power Line.

The potential danger from high-voltage power lines is a subject of heated debate. Earlier this year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency called for more research into whether electromagnetic fields around high-voltage power lines pose a danger to health. - Associated Press

by CNB