Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 21, 1994 TAG: 9406240030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jefferson National Forest officials also said Monday that a draft environmental impact statement - originally due two years ago - won't be complete until February.
Opponents of Apco's proposed 765,000-volt line predicted the delay would aid their cause, but said any alternative route would still have an adverse impact on people and the environment.
Apco's project manager, Charles Simmons, on the other hand, blasted the "interminable delays," adding that the utility stands by its preferred route as the best one for the environment.
"The most critical thing is to get the U.S. Forest Service to issue the [impact statement]," said Simmons, Apco vice president of construction and maintenance. Apco is behind on its original schedule to complete the 115-mile line from West Virginia to the Cloverdale substation by summer 1998, he said.
Forest officials would not release preliminary maps of the alternatives they offered for consideration, saying they didn't want to "unduly alarm" people in those areas.
The maps are just rough sketches and could be changed significantly over the next month, said Frank Bergmann, project coordinator for the forest on the Apco line.
"We don't want to just put a bunch of spaghetti lines across a map," he said. The agency will hold four public meetings in mid-July to unveil the alternative corridors and update citizens on the environmental impact statement process.
The corridors are in the areas of Newport/Blacksburg; Narrows/Pearisburg; Lindside, W.Va.; New Castle; Paint Bank/Waiteville, W.Va., and Mechanicsburg/Dismal Creek in Giles County.
Forest supervisor Joy Berg said that many of the alternatives are a "significant deviation" from Apco's preferred route.
As required by federal law, the national forest's environmental impact statement must include the proposed route; a "no action" alternative - a route that does not cross its land, as well as a "reasonable range" of alternatives that address public concerns, forest spokesman Dave Olson said.
Bergmann said the alternatives are probably not the same as those identified by Apco in 1991, when the utility unveiled its plans. Some of those routes dipped into Giles County.
Many factors have caused delays in completing the impact statement, Bergmann said. The scope of the study expanded after citizens commented, and the agency now has many more miles of possible corridors to analyze.
The forest will examine, among other things, impacts on water resources, geology, air quality and noise, human health and safety, recreation, cultural resources, plants and animals, and views.
"By moving the line, Apco will actually double the opposition rather than splitting the opposition," said Jeff Janosko, chairman of Arcs Inc., a two-state group that is fighting the power line.
"We stand to be hit, no matter what," said Amy South, of a recently formed group called the Border Conservancy that seeks to protect Peters Mountain from the power line. She said Apco's preferred line, and the forest's alternatives, would cross near the West Virginia communities of Zenith and Waiteville.
Opponents argue that the line would damage the environment and threaten human health. Further, they say that with conservation measures, the line is not needed.
Apco maintains that the line is essential to provide reliable service to customers. Simmons said that the utility's original projections have proved to be low, and that demand and energy use is growing at a rate that makes the line necessary now.
The State Corporation Commission has not made a final ruling on Apco's proposal to build the line, although the hearing examiner has recommended that Apco's route be approved. Apco is postponing its application to West Virginia, which has twice rejected the company's plans, until the draft environmental impact statement is ready for release.
Jefferson National Forest scheduled these meetings, all from 7 to 9 p.m.: July 12, New Castle High School; July 13, Narrows High School; July 14, Union (W.Va.) High School; July 15, Waiteville (W.Va.) Community Center.
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