ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607150068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
American Electric Power Co. said Friday it has asked Virginia's State Corporation Commission to extend for four months the final deadline for comments on AEP's application to build a high-voltage power line and to suspend consideration of the application in the meantime.
The request was prompted by a ruling by the supervisor of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests last month not to let the power line cross national forest land. Forest Supervisor Bill Damon said the damage the line would cause to the environment would be too severe and long-lasting.
The utility wants the SCC's comment deadline extended from Aug. 1 to Dec. 1. The deadline pertains to comments on an interim SCC ruling last December in which the commission found the line may be needed.
"It would be premature for the current SCC proceedings to continue until we know how the Forest Service recommendation to prohibit crossing federal lands will affect the power-line project," said Ron Poff, AEP's project manager.
AEP said Friday it will try to convince the Forest Service to consider the full impact of its decision on the people and economy in the company's service areas in Virginia and West Virginia. The company has said the area faces power shortages or blackouts if the line is not built.
The Forest Service will hold a series of public meetings in Virginia and West Virginia to take comments on the environmental study that led to Damon's decision against the plan. The first meeting is scheduled for July 31 in New Castle.
The Forest Service found that it would be possible for AEP to build the line entirely on private land, but Damon did not offer an opinion on whether that should be done. AEP has said building the line on private land is not practical because it would cause more harm to the environment than a route across the forest.
AEP filed an application with the SCC in 1991 to build the 115-mile, 765,000-volt power line from Oceana, W.Va., to a power substation at Cloverdale. The company hired a team from Virginia Tech and West Virginia University to develop the route.
The path AEP settled on would bring the line across 12 miles of national forest, the Appalachian Trail and a portion of the New River that is under consideration for scenic-river designation.
Last December, the SCC ruled that the line appeared to be needed to provide AEP's customers with a reliable source of power but raised some questions of its own about the proposed route. The commission asked the company to consider modifying the route to avoid a scenic portion of Craig County's Sinking Creek Valley and an area near Roanoke's Carvins Cove Reservoir.
AEP needs permission from both Virginia's SCC and the West Virginia Public Service Commission to build the line. The company has not yet filed an application in West Virginia.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB