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Foes join to fight power-line proposal

July 27, 2007 12:35 am

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

WARRENTON--Landowners and jurisdictions along the proposed route of a 500-kilovolt power line filed last-minute legal protests as the state began public hearings on the plan yesterday.

Dominion Power wants to run the line through Fauquier, Rappahannock and Culpeper counties to feed growing demand for electricity in Northern Virginia.

While most businesses support the proposal, many residents living in the proposed route are opposed.

Concerned Culpeper Citizens and the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection announced yesterday that they have joined with a group of mostly Culpeper County residents to form the Powerline Landowners Association to fight Dominion Power's plan in court.

"We have engaged a lawyer and an appraiser to work with the 70-odd affected landowners," said David Rowe of the CCC.

The Culpeper County government also jumped into the fray yesterday, filing notice that it plans to join an existing administrative lawsuit against Dominion.

According to County Attorney Dave Maddox, Culpeper will join about 15 other counties, businesses and conservation groups to challenge the utility's southern route. That group includes Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties and the Piedmont Environmental Council.

At a public hearing by the State Corporation Commission yesterday, dozens of speakers testified, often dramatically, about why they did or did not want the line.

Opponents said they didn't want the power line, no matter where it is built.

"Dominion Power has made no clear case how this project will benefit the people of Fauquier and Prince William counties," said Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, who represents affected areas of the two counties.

Northern Virginia's business leaders said they didn't care where the line is run, just as long as it's built.

"The number of residents and businesses in Northern Virginia is growing and we need to plan for the future," said Laurie Wieder, representing the Prince William County Chamber of Commerce.

Dominion initially proposed running the line along the Interstate 66 corridor from the West Virginia state line through Warren, Fauquier and Loudoun counties.

But with opposition mounting in that area, Dominion offered an alternative route in February. That route would follow an existing right-of-way through the Amissville-Jeffersonton area in Culpeper County through southern Fauquier and Prince William to Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

While this route is some 25 miles longer, it would not require acquisition of new easements, only the expansion of existing ones.

Backed by an independent study, Dominion Power has warned that power usage in Northern Virginia, which has risen 40 percent in the past 25 years, will rise another 9 percent by 2011.

Unless it gets more power to the area, the utility says businesses and residents can expect rolling blackouts within five years.

While losing power is a frightening scenario for the high-tech industries of Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax, those who live and work near the proposed route have their own concerns about the taller support structures and higher voltage lines.

Wayne Arrington, whose family operates a large farm in the Catlett area, believes that his mother became ill and died due to exposure to the power lines already in place.

"We live with the lingering worry that our health and our livelihood are at risk," Arrington told the SCC, noting that others living near the power lines have suffered serious health problems. "The handwriting is on the wall. Our concerns are health related."

Arrington said he has two herds of his cattle, one that pastures under the existing power lines and another a few miles away.

"I have noted increased abortion and delayed breeding with the herd under the power line," Arrington said.

Opponents were not limited to just those who spoke against the southern route. Others, including Fauquier Board of Supervisors Chairman Harry Atherton, made it clear that there was strong opposition to running the power line along the historic I-66 corridor, too.

Dominion also faces strong opposition to a separate proposal to run a transmission line over a five-mile stretch in North Stafford. Residents there want the utility to bury the lines to prevent damage to their property values. The SCC held public hearings on that line earlier this month.