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

DATE: SATURDAY, October 22, 1994                   TAG: 9410240054
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COURT ASKED TO DISMISS SUIT ON POWER LINE

The government filed a response to the citizens' suit Friday with the U.S. District Court clerk's office in Roanoke. The government claims the court lacks jurisdiction in the case, that the plaintiffs lack the standing to file the suit, that the suit is premature, and that the citizens aren't entitled to the extraordinary relief that they have requested.

Forty-six New River Valley landowners filed suit against the Forest Service on Aug. 19. They asked the court to order the agency to reopen its environmental impact study of the Apco's proposed 765-kilovolt power line in order to provide further public notice, meetings and comment.

Apco has proposed building the 115-mile transmission line from Oceana, W.Va., to its Cloverdale substation just east of Roanoke, claiming brownouts could result if the line is not built by 1998.

Apco's suggested route for the line passes across the Jefferson National Forest and land under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers. The Forest Service began a study in November 1991 of the environmental impacts of the line on all land under federal jurisdiction. As part of that study the Forest Service picked alternative routes for the power line. Federal law required the Forest Service to study alternative routes for the line.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit live along those alternative routes in Montgomery, Giles, Pulaski and Bland counties. The Forest Service unveiled the alternative routes to the public July 12 at the first of seven public meetings on the alternatives, according to the government's response.

The citizens, however, claim that because the Forest Service picked alternative routes, it is required under the National Environmental Policy Act to essentially go back to the start of its environmental study. The citizens also claim the government denied them their right of due process by not giving them the same notice and right to comment as was given to residents along Apco's chosen route for the line early in the study.

Government lawyers argue that the District Court has no jurisdiction over the citizens' lawsuit because the Forest Service has not taken final action in its environmental study.

The plaintiffs also have no standing to pursue their claim against the Forest Service, the government says. The citizens are claiming their property values have been harmed by the potential of a power line's running near them, but federal environmental law covers only harm to the environment - not damage to a plaintiff's economic well-being, the government says.

The government also argues that the lawsuit was filed prematurely because the plaintiffs did not exhaust their administrative appeals through the Forest Service before filing the suit. For that reason, too, it should be dismissed, the government argues.

Finally, the government contends the citizens are not entitled to the extraordinary step of mandamus relief that they request. Mandamus is a court order issued when a federal agency or employee has failed to perform a required duty.