ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 3, 1996 TAG: 9608050011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
New River Valley residents interested in American Electric Power Co.'s proposal to build a 765,000-watt power line from West Virginia to Cloverdale may learn more at a U.S. Forest Service meeting at Blacksburg High School from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
A second information meeting will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Giles High School near Pearisburg.
In June the Forest Service made a preliminary decision to forbid the power line to cross the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, setting off this latest round of public review.
AEP's preferred route for the power line would run 115 miles from Oceana, W.Va., to Cloverdale. En route, it would cross 12 miles of national forest land, the Appalachian Trail and a scenic portion of the New River in West Virginia being considered for federal protection.
That preferred route passes to the northeast of the New River Valley, through Craig, Roanoke and Botetourt counties. A second AEP route, filed at the state's request in March, would pass through Giles County and a lightly populated corner of Montgomery County.
But several of the alternative routes the Forest Service proposed a year ago pass through northern Montgomery County, including proposals that would cross the New River near McCoy Falls, pass by the Preston Forest neighborhood and through the Mount Tabor-Catawba Valley.
Mark Hileman, a member of the Informed Citizens Action Network, this week urged Montgomery County residents to become more knowledgeable about those proposed routes. ICAN is a citizen's group that formed two years ago because of the Interstate 73 and power-line issues.
The Forest Service "no-build" decision came after four years of study for a draft environmental impact statement that concluded the effect on forest resources would be too great.
The controversy now goes to state agencies in Virginia and West Virginia, the upper echelons of the Forest Service and possibly the courts.
Opponents say the line would cause too much damage to the environment, that it is not needed and that the electricity could be provided in other ways, such as through improvements to existing power lines.
Supporters say peak demand in the area to be served by the line has exceeded AEP's forecasts. AEP has said the line is needed to prevent blackouts or other power problems that could begin as early as 1998.
A final environmental statement will not be issued by the Forest Service until Virginia's State Corporation Commission and West Virginia's Public Service Commission rule on the need for the line.
The Forest Service public meetings Tuesday and Wednesday are in more of an informational format than a traditional public hearing.
A public comment period on the draft environmental impact statement continues until Oct. 7. Forest service personnel are recommending people gather information at the meetings, then mail their comments to Bill Damon, supervisor of the forests, before the deadline.
The address is USDA Forest Service, Attention Draft EIS Analysis, George Washington & Jefferson National Forests, 5162 Valleypointe Parkway, Roanoke, VA 24019.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: map - Though American Electric Power Co.'s preferredby CNBroute misses the New River- Valley, several of the alternative
routes up for study in the past 16 months run through Giles and
Montgomery counties. The Forest Service in June said no to any
power-line route across national forest land. color STAFF