Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407100034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Several days ago, newspapers and TV stations received in the overnight mail a map of alternative routes chosen by the federal government for a controversial high-voltage power line being proposed in West Virginia and Virginia.
Charles Simmons, Appalachian Power Co.'s man in charge of the project, didn't get one. When reporters called for comment, he asked for a fax so he could see what the U.S. Forest Service had in mind.
It was typical, he said later, of the bureaucratic delays that have plagued Apco's proposal to build a 765,000-volt transmission line since the project was announced four years ago.
Frank Bergmann didn't get one, either, and he's the top man coordinating the line's environmental impact statement for the Jefferson National Forest, where he works.
Few things seem to run smoothly or on time where a multimillion-dollar project involving three federal agencies, two states, private companies and numerous opposition groups is concerned. The only sure thing is that delays will happen.
Simmons, Apco's vice president of construction and maintenance, has had enough. In a strongly worded letter to the Forest Service's regional office in Atlanta this month, he said the continued delays are "threatening to become, in effect, a denial by default." He went on to insist that the regional office intervene to get the impact statement "on track and keep it there."
To a great extent, the proposed line hinges on the outcome of that study. Based on the results, Joy Berg, supervisor of the Jefferson National Forest, will make the final decision on where, if at all, the line can cross the forest's land.
Actually, the fight between Apco and its opponents won't stop there. Either side can appeal Berg's decision to the Atlanta regional forester and can then take the matter to federal court, where it could languish for years. Both sides have indicated that they probably will have their final showdown before a judge.
By then, however, the lights in the Roanoke Valley and elsewhere could be flickering, if Apco's predictions are correct. The utility says that consumer demand is growing so fast that the line must be built by 1998.
Not a chance now, Simmons said. With a draft impact statement due March 1 and a final version six months later, the line won't get under way until at least the year 2000, even if it is approved, he said.
But the public's demand for pristine woods, unspoiled landscapes, clean water, country quiet and abundant wildlife also is growing. That's where the Jefferson comes in.
The agency is analyzing environmental impacts along Apco's entire route but will look specifically at the 15 miles across federal lands. The map distributed last week showed alternative routes across the forest and at least one that circumvents all forest land, as required by the agency's own rules.
"The question for us is whether Apco needs to cross federal lands. We're not responding to whether the power is needed or not," Bergmann said.
The agencies in the two states that regulate utilities will decide that. But the decision-making by the three bodies is becoming a chicken-and-egg scenario.
Virginia's State Corporation Commission hasn't ruled, although a hearing examiner in December recommended approval for Apco's chosen path, 115 miles from Wyoming, W.Va., to Cloverdale.
Simmons said the Forest Service would like the need for the line confirmed before finishing its impact statement, which by law must include a "no-action" alternative. Yet the SCC may be stalling to see what route the Forest Service will approve across its land.
If the SCC approves Apco's route, and the Forest Service chooses another, Apco would have to reapply and go through the lengthy public hearing process, which took more than two years the first time. If the case still is pending, Simmons said, Apco could petition to open the record and submit another forest crossing.
Across the state line, the West Virginia Public Service Authority has a 400-day deadline to rule on an application. The agency has said it wants the forest's report available for its public hearings, so Apco is waiting to submit an application until the draft is ready.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson is chipping away at the project, unprecedented in scope and complexity. Bergmann got 750 letters from residents who raised issues to which he must respond in the report.
In addition, he is coordinating the work for the National Park Service, which oversees the Appalachian Trail, and the Corps of Engineers, which oversees the New River.
A sampling of the issues identified by the Forest Service for study:
Soil erosion and productivity.
Geologic resources, like karst terrain and caves.
Churches, historic structures, graveyards.
Human health threat from the electromagnetic fields.
Noise.
Property values.
Scenic beauty.
Wildlife habitat.
The cultural attachment people have to Peters Mountain.
A private firm, Woodward-Clyde Consultants, hired by the Forest Service and paid by Apco, is doing most of the legwork on the impact statement with the forest's oversight. The consultants mailed out the maps last week.
Bergmann said their work so far has been to research documents from a smattering of other sources to find out what's out there, make an inventory of things like wetlands, endangered and threatened species, homes, hiking trails, old-growth stands and so forth.
The next step was to find alternative routes that mitigate one or more of the potential adverse impacts. Lastly, the forest will compare those routes and their effects and come up with their own preferred route across forest land.
"We didn't just say, `Here's Apco's line, let's just draw some lines around it and see what we come up with,' " Bergmann said.
The National Park Service and the Corps of Engineers also will designate a preferred crossing of the Appalachian Trail and the New River. State regulators will determine where the line might cross private lands.
Jim Loesel, a Forest Service watchdog who is aiding several of the opposition groups, said that determination ought not be left to the states.
"We're talking about a national question," so the forest should take a leading role in determining the need, before spending time and money on plotting where the line should go.
"They're putting the horse before the cart," Loesel said.
Bill Tanger, a Roanoke public relations executive who occasionally acts as Apco's environmental consultant on the project, believes in the need for the line. He criticized the majority of opponents, saying they are taking a "head in the sand" approach to the debate.
"Who's looking out for the total picture?" asked Tanger, who said he was not representing the company for an interview for this article. People should be helping find ways to make it as inoffensive and environmentally sound as possible, he said, because when the brownouts come, the line will be built in a hurry and probably improperly.
Apco's "preferred route's not going to fly," he said. That route crosses a section of the New River in West Virginia that likely will be designated by Congress as a national wild and scenic river. The House already has passed such legislation, which now is pending before the Senate.
If it becomes law, the power line crossing would have to be approved by Congress, which relies on the recommendation of the Park Service. Tanger said park officials have indicated they won't approve a crossing.
Tanger thinks the line could parallel any number of existing power lines across the New River near Glen Lyn in Giles County. "One impact is already there, so an additional impact would be minor," he said. About seven miles of the river south of the state line also is being considered for national scenic status, however.
Simmons, Apco's project leader, said the utility detailed in its application to the SCC its plans to lessen the environmental impacts of the proposed power line.
"It's a darn shame that no one has read that application, and the opponents know darn well" what's in there but have chosen to ignore it, Simmons said. Apco can't make the line disappear, he said, but here are some of the measures Apco will take to reduce the impact:
Design the conductors with six cables, rather than four, to reduce the noise.
Leave all the trees along the right of way where the line is 100 feet or higher from the ground. This step is best suited for mountainous terrain where lines are often strung from one ridge to another. Apco still would have to clearcut the area around the base of the towers, Simmons said.
Leave low-growth vegetation, such as dogwoods and redbuds, along other parts of the right-of-way.
Use only hand-held herbicide sprayers that target only the undesirable plant species and designate buffer zones around water resources, hiking trails and other resources where no spraying would occur. Simmons said Apco would not do any aerial spraying.
Use a duller, darker finish on the towers, which may be aluminum, to cut down on their visibility.
Use vegetative screening along roads.
Avoid, where possible, open places and valleys, trying to place the towers and line where the landscape changes to better hide it.
Consult with the appropriate agencies on how to mitigate impact on resources such as wetlands and endangered and threatened species.
Simmons wasn't sure if Apco would be legally bound to such measures that are included in its application, assuming the SCC approves it. But, he said, "I'm not going to do anything different than what I'm told by the commission," which controls Apco's profits.
He joked that Apco probably has used more trees in producing all the reports and studies and testimony than it would cut down along the right of way.
But he wasn't joking about the spiraling cost and delay of the impact statement process. Apco's bill for the consultant now stands at $2 million, which he noted ultimately will be paid by the utility's ratepayers.
A spokesman for the Forest Service regional office in Atlanta, Gary Pierson, said the agency is willing to meet with Apco, but no date has been set. Pierson added that the regional office would not take over the job from the Jefferson National Forest staff.
\ MEETING SCHEDULE
Tuesday New Castle High School Virginia 615 New Castle
Wednesday Narrows High School 115 Woodland Ave. Narrows
Thursday Union High School School Street Union, W.Va.
Friday Waiteville Community Center Ray Siding Road Waiteville, W.Va.
by CNB