Capon Valley Coalition

Don Kesner reports on the Capon Valley Coalition in this week’s edition of The Hampshire Review:

YELLOW SPRING — When John Anderson steps outside his Capon Springs home he sees nothing but beauty.
Anderson said he bought the land in 1992 after looking for a place for about 15 years.
Located near the Capon Springs Resort, Anderson said his property is surrounded by national forests, untouched and pristine.
But for Anderson and others in the southeastern section of Hampshire County, the viewscape could soon be threatened by the possibility of 125-foot power lines that would extend from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

For the next week (mostly likely until Wednesday, January 31), you should probably be able to read the full story online at www.hampshirereview.com.

We had hoped to send out our progress report (see it below) to all those on our email list by now. But technology failed.

We have more than 70 email addresses on our membership list (Yippee … and thank you all), and our free email account at Yahoo! cannot digest that large a number.

Please contact everyone you know and tell them the old-fashioned way that our first progress report is online on this Web site.

We are looking for a free bulk emailer. Once we locate it and get things set up, we will get that email out.

A note on finances: We have none.

Various volunteers … your neighbors … are paying for the Post Office box, printing the petitions and flyers and a dozen other things. We have to do things on the cheap, so please bear with us.

By the way, if you are looking for something to do, we need people to distribute petitions and get them signed. People who live anywhere can sign the petition. Anyone who has enjoyed our beautiful scenery, who has hunted in our forests and on our mountains, who has fished in the Cacapon … can sign the petition. Email us at caponvalleycoalition@yahoo.com if you can help out. Thank you. (And yes, we can handle your incoming email.)

(You can now download the petition easily on the Sign Our Petition page and print it out. We know it was challenging before, and we think we have corrected the problem.)

Thirty-one hardy souls with the best interests of the residents, property owners and businesses of Hampshire and Hardy Counties gathered at the Yellow Spring Ruritan on the drearily rainy night of Sunday, January 7, to create the Capon Valley Coalition.
Since then, here is what we have accomplished. (We have more than 110 individuals on our rolls!)

We got organized!

• We set up a combination Web site/blog at http://caponvalleycoalition.wordpress.com [no www required]. (You can leave a comment on any posting. It’s a good way to ask questions or share information.)
• We opened an email address at caponvalleycoalition@yahoo.com.
• We created stationery to give our coalition a professional look.

A lot of you joined us!

• We collected the names, addresses and emails of more than 110 people. (That’s how you join us; just share your contact information.)
• We met with and started forming an alliance with the Piedmont Environmental Council, a well-funded and influential group in Fauquier County, Virginia, that also opposes this unnecessary power line.

We reached out to some elected officials!

• We made an initial contact with the Hampshire County Commissioners with an eye toward arranging a community meeting with the commissioners and Allegheny Power to get some answers to our questions. (Watch this space for details.)
• We contacted senior staff for Sen. Robert Byrd, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito to ask for meetings to express our concerns.
• One of our members has written a letter to the editor of The Hampshire Review, which was published on Wednesday.

We invited more people to join us

• We drafted a petition that people can sign and send to us. (We will copy them and present them in bulk to our elected representatives in the U.S. Senate and House, the West Virginia Senate and House, and the Hampshire and Hardy County Commissioners … and, of course, Allegheny Power.)
• We drew up a flyer explaining who we are, what Allegheny Power is trying to do and asking for support. We are distributing them to businesses in Hampshire and Hardy Counties. (If you can help distribute them, or if you can post one in your business, send us an email and we will arrange to deliver copies to you.)

We are planning another community meeting!

• No date. No details yet. We want to see about those meetings with our elected officials first.

We still need YOUR help!

• Sign our petition and send it to us
• Get your family and friends and neighbors to sign the petition.
• Contact your elected representatives, from the county commissioners to Sens. Byrd and Rockefeller and Rep. Capito.
• Write to Allegheny and say NO to TrAIL!

A supporter of the Coalition wrote the following letter to the editor of The Hampshire Review. It appears in the January 17 issue.

The Allegheny Power Company is partnering with the “PJM Interconnection” to condemn land through much of West Virginia and is planning to build a huge power line across Hardy and Hampshire counties. They will seek eminent domain from the Federal government to seize easement right of way from property owners. Except for a Hampshire Review article on December 6th reporting a meeting in Wardensville, I have not seen any mention of this issue. The proposed routes go through Hampshire County, Hardy County, near Wardensville, Capon Springs, and Yellow Spring.

Concerned residents have recently formed a Capon Valley Coalition to try to stop this tremendous assault on our environment, property rights and land values. The Coalition is seeking to contact elected officials in the County, State and Federal governments to gain support in combating this proposal, and needs the support of concerned citizens and organizations. The website is http://caponvalleycoalition.wordpress.com It contains letters and petitions.

The power line is described as a 240 mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line from Pennsylvania through Mount Storm into Virginia. It is referred to as the “Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL)”. The proposed towers will be up to 175 feet high, the height of twelve-to-fifteen story buildings! The right of way will be more than 150 feet. The stated purpose of these lines is to transmit electrical power to meet the demands of Northern Virginia, and they do not benefit West Virginia. This energy may also be designated for cities in the northeast in New Jersey and Delaware.

These power lines would be an environmental disaster. Piedmont Environmental Council has a very strong effort to stop the power lines in Virginia. They are working with many organizations and professional energy experts, and have the support of Senator Warner and Congressmen Wolfe and Davis. The PEC has determined that the power companies have not made the case that this power line is needed, and that Virginia does not need it. More reasonable, less harmful alternatives would be to improve existing lines, and build small power plants where the power demand is, using new, cleaner technology, and not do great harm to our environment.

The West Virginia State legislature is in session until March 10th. Allegheny Power will file their application with the state Public Service Commission as early as April. Those concerned about this issue should learn the facts and notify their representatives of their concerns immediately. More information and contact information is available on the Capon Valley Coalition web page.

William Golemon, Yellow Spring, WV

Mark R. Dorolek reported January 18 on the front page of The Winchester Star that residents within sight of Allegheny Power’s proposed 500-kilovolt power line “could have trouble selling their property.”

He quoted Traci Shoberg, president of the Blue Ridge Association of Realtors, as saying that the depreciation of the land would depend on a number of factors, including the location of the land, the real estate market and whether the land was developed or not.

Frederick County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week opposing the line.