Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 6, 1995 TAG: 9505080065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And there's a good chance the routes will change again before the agency issues its draft environmental impact statement, due Oct. 20, said Ken Landgraf, chief planner for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.
"There might be some tweaks, maybe some things deleted, some additions," he said. That's the way the process works, he said - the options are constantly refined and modified.
Even though some routes have been dropped, people living along those routes aren't in the clear, Landgraf said.
The agency has jurisdiction solely over federal lands. Some changes on new maps released last month were made on private land, where the Forest Service is reviewing possible crossings for Appalachian Power Co.'s proposed 765,000-volt line.
But it's up to the State Corporation Commission in Virginia to determine where the line could cross private lands.
"We're not making their decision for them," Landgraf said. "They could do anything."
An SCC examiner has recommended approval of Apco's preferred route, which runs 115 miles from Cloverdale to Wyoming County, W.Va. The SCC has not made a final ruling.
The Forest Service has begun more detailed study of the environmental impacts on federal lands. Part of that means narrowing the widths of possible corridors from one mile to 1,000 feet. It also means making trade-offs between resources, such as recreation, wildlife habitat, and watershed protection, Landgraf said.
"Anywhere you put this line, you're going to have to deal with these trade-offs," Landgraf said. "We can't make those trade-offs on private land."
Once Virginia and West Virginia approve routes in their states, the Forest Service will do a detailed analysis on the private land crossings for the final environmental impact statement.
Landgraf acknowledged that the changes probably are frustrating for people, particularly power line opponents, who are trying to keep up with the complicated project, which has been mired in controversy since Apco announced its plans in 1990.
"All of this tells you how fluid this is," said Donna Muhly, a member of the opposition group Concerned Citizens for Walker Creek Valley in Giles County. "If the corridor's not over your head now, it could be in six months."
She said people who are concerned about the line should get involved now to avoid making the mistake she and her husband did. "We woke up one day and found ourselves threatened."
One alternative route still crosses their property in the southwest corner of Giles County, she said. But an added route now would cross a nearby Amish community.
Other changes include:
Avoiding the Waiteville community and an unfragmented block of bear habitat and old growth forest in West Virginia.
Crossing the Appalachian Trail near Cloverdale, where the scenic hiking path already is exposed to urban development.
Dropping a route that paralleled an existing 345,000-volt line in Giles County because the added visual impact would be much worse, Landgraf said.
Dropping a route along Broad Run, east of Virginia 311 in Craig County, again because of adverse visual impact from the Audie Murphy monument and popular Dragon's Tooth overlook.
Dropping a route north of Peterstown, W.Va., because it crossed an undisturbed section of the trail and came near a group of commercial springs and wells.
"We were surprised that they didn't eliminate more corridors," said Carl Persing, Apco coordinator for the project. Reducing the alternatives would mean quickening the study, which the Forest Service has delayed three times, much to Apco's dismay.
"We're not going to complete this before the year 2000," Persing said, "and we're pushing almost $3 million" spent on consultants and the impact statement alone. But Persing said the utility was pleased the Forest Service seemed to be reaching some of the same conclusions Apco had in its early study of routes.
Apco has said the line is needed by 1998 to avoid chances of power outages in its service area.
For more information about the routing changes, call the Forest Service at (800) 595-USFS.
by CNB