PPL power line hearing well-attended
Published: May 22, 2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share this
NEWTON TWP. - More than four dozen residents turned out Thursday for a public hearing over PPL Electric Utilities' siting application for the proposed Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line.
A few of them spoke in favor of the jobs and infrastructure the project could bring to Northeast Pennsylvania. However, the majority of those who spoke at Newton-Ransom Fire Hall were concerned about the same thing: possible negative impacts the proposed 500-kilovolt line would have on the environment, health and aesthetics of the area, if built along its proposed route.
"NEPA has always been the dumping ground for industry. We get New Jersey's garbage," said Janet Melnick, who has property in Ransom Twp. that could be affected. "All you have to do is look at that big pastoral scene behind you" - she said, gesturing out the window to the green hillside of West Mountain - "to see that we don't want to lose that."
Other concerns were potential lost income in home values and tourism and the unknown health effects of a strong electromagnetic current flowing nearby.
If approved by the Public Utilities Commission, the 500-kilovolt transmission line would extend 101 miles through parts of Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike and Wayne counties as it goes from PPL's Susquehanna substation near Berwick to the Delaware River.
The utilities contend the project is necessary to prevent overloads on 23 existing transmission lines in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by 2013.
Many those who testified in front of PUC administrative law judge, Susan Solwell, wanted to know "why the circuitous route?"
After the meeting, PPL spokesman Paul Wirth, said "When you have an existing power line, if you follow that, it has less impact than creating a new power line, where one doesn't exist. It's worth it to us to go farther ... then it has less impact overall."
Private citizens as well as representatives from various environmental groups like the Sierra Club and community groups such as the Scranton-Abingtons Planning Association, doubted the local need for the line, and were concerned that much of its power go elsewhere, such as New Jersey.
Many also wanted to see more alternative energy, given recent state legislation.
"Does PPL fund any research in alternative or renewable energy?" Lee Jamison, president of SAPA and Newton Twp. resident, said. "It's probably fair to say that it's far less than what PPL is prepared to spend on this project."
An electrical construction worker who builds power lines across the country, Jason Bonner of Lackawaxen, supports the project. He scoffed at the idea people would support alternative energy because it, too, could affect places people care about.
"We could saturate the top of the Delaware Gap Ridge with windmills," he said.
Also in favor of the project is David Blauer, a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 1319. He said the project could provide jobs for the 70 unemployed line workers in his union, among other potential benefits.
"It would probably provide us with about three years worth of work," he said.
Frank Muraca, of Clarks Summit, countered that alternative energy creation would create more jobs overall, citing the Blue-Green Alliance, a coalition of union workers and environmentalists.
State Rep. Jim Wansacz, D-114, Old Forge, said after the meeting he's still gathering information, but he had sent e-mails and encouraged people to request the hearing.
"I was glad to see so many people turn out," Mr. Wansacz said.
Contact the writer: ssolie@timeshamrock.com
18 posted comments
Excuse me, but isn't the Obama admistration downplaying nuclear and coal generation in favor of windmills and solar energy? The UAE is near the equator in a desert, with intense sunshine all year. Why isn't solar energy good enough for them? I guess the arabs will have a first-rate energy supply system while the US hopelessly relies on windmills and solar panels.