Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409130090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The board refused to urge the U.S. Forest Service to immediately reopen a formal public comment period on the alternative routes for a proposed 765,000-volt power line, one of which passes just north of Blacksburg.
Instead, by a 5-1 vote, the supervisors gave a thumbs-up to Appalachian Power Co.'s preferred route through Craig, Roanoke and Botetourt counties en route from West Virginia to Cloverdale. The board also affirmed the need for the line.
But at Supervisor Henry Jablonski's suggestion, the board tacked on a sentence urging the reopening of the formal review process if the Forest Service's study results in the selection of one of the alternatives.
Supervisor Jim Moore was the lone vote against the resolution. He said he is concerned that the residents of his district, which covers much of northeast Montgomery, are being denied due process. Supervisor Ira Long missed the meeting.
Power line opponents, including members of ICAN - the Informed Citizens Action Network - have urged the board to take a stand since July, when the Forest Service announced the alternative routes as part of its environmental impact study of the preferred route.
Opponents believe they haven't had the same right to comment on the study as residents in the counties north of the New River Valley. A group of opponents filed suit in U.S. District Court in Roanoke last month in an attempt to compel the Forest Service to stop the study and reopen the comment period. That suit is pending.
Robin Boucher, a spokeswoman for ICAN, said after the vote that the Forest Service already is considering the alternative routes through the New River Valley. ICAN wants the alternatives withdrawn and the formal public comment process started again. "I feel [the supervisors] do not understand that the process is already occurring right now," Boucher said.
Last month, the board heard from Apco and the Forest Service on the history of the utility's plans to build the new line, and on the steps involved in an environmental impact study. Such a study is required in the case of the power line, because the utility's preferred route crosses 12 miles of the Jefferson National Forest, along with Army Corps of Engineers land in West Virginia and the Appalachian Trail, which is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
The alternative routes are a required part of the study, and include one route that avoids the national forest. That path is the one that has provoked concern from ICAN members, because it parallels Toms Creek along the base of Crush Mountain and would pass through the Mount Tabor area just north of Blacksburg.
Apco Vice President Charles Simmons told the board last month that further delays in approval of the new line could stress the reliability of the electrical system by the late 1990s.
Simmons said Monday the board's resolution of support will be helpful.
by CNB