Capon Valley Coalition

CVC Member Ralph Wojtowicz had a letter to the editor of the Cumberland Times-News earlier this month. It’s worth reading and sharing:

Thank you, Ralph.

To the Editor:

As a former teacher, I find the scandal involving the improper awarding of a West Virginia degree to a member of Gov. Manchin’s family offensive. What is alarming as a father and property owner in West Virginia, however, is that this scandal reveals the governor’s office openness to engaging in dishonest business.

The proposed Trans-Allegheny Transmission Line has been terrorizing my family and thousands of others for over a year now. If completed as proposed, the project would increase the risk of leukemia in my children, decrease our property value, and degrade our quality of life.

Protest letters on the Public Service Commission Web site written by families, farmers, religious groups, Native Americans, conservation groups, and others illuminate the fact that this project is a civic evil.

Earlier this year I learned from Jay Ruberto, route engineer for the line, that agents of this project had trespassed and taken photos of my property and home. Mr. Ruberto and officials at the Louis Berger Group characterized the incident as an honest mistake.

Byron Harris, consumer advocate of the West Virginia PSC, however, informed me that such trespasses were a pattern of behavior discussed at the PSC hearings. This week a neighbor observed and confronted project representatives on his property. Trespassing and lying to West Virginia residents are unacceptable business practices.

The cancerous relationship between Massey Energy and the West Virginia Supreme Court, the tragedy of the Marsh Fork Elementary School, and the recent deal struck between Allegheny Energy and the PSC occurred under Governor Manchin’s administration. In 2006 the governor wrote a letter to the Department of Energy supporting the project and National Interest Energy Corridor designation in West Virginia.

In past elections he has accepted substantial contributions from the energy industry. West Virginians deserve to know the governor’s current stand on the project and the role he is playing in its advancement.

Ralph Wojtowicz
Yellow Spring, W.Va.

The Dominion Post ran this story on May 4, showing consistent, widespread opposition to TrAIL wherever it would run and not benefit the communities it trashes.

May 04, 2008 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — – Allegheny Energy has said the Trans Allegheny Interstate Line project will be good for West Virginia and is a necessary part of the nation’s electricity grid.

llen Staggers, an Allegheny spokesman, said the company has a legal responsibility to maintain reliability and deliver electricity to its customers. Infrastructure additions, such as the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line project, are part of that obligation.

Under the leadership of President Don Corwin and Vice President John Balasko, the Halleck Community Association has brought attention to Allegheny Energy’s proposed 240-mile, 500-kilovolt power line that could cross six West Virginia counties if approved by the state’s Public Service Commission.

“Don and John work tirelessly researching the issues and educating themselves in order to bring information to the public about Allegheny Energy’s plans,” said Edie Jett, a member of the Halleck Community Association. “Without their dedication, the project would have steamrolled through Monongalia County without any resistance.”

The Laurel Run Watershed Community Association has worked closely with Corwin and Balasko to oppose the power line project.

“Don and John have certainly been very diligent and worked very hard for the folks over there in the Halleck community,” said Lew McDaniel, spokesman for Laurel Run.

If approved by the PSC, the project would start in Pennsylvania, pass through West Virginia and continue to northern Virginia.

“This power line project is the first of many more to come,” Corwin said. “West Virginians must stand up to protect their own interests and ensure that we, not the corporate executives, benefit from any exploitation of our resources.”

Jim Kotcon, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, had high praise for Corwin and Balasko.

“Both of those gentlemen have made significant contributions to saving Allegheny’s ratepayers money and for protecting the quality of life in Monongalia County,” he said.

Corwin and Balasko have tried to convince federal and state officials to oppose the project, with some success.

They’re “raising the awareness of this issue among the public and elected officials by making it clear that this power line project is a bad deal for West Virginia,” Corwin said.

Staggers said the need for the TrAIL facilities is driven by load growth in the Mid-Atlantic and Northern Virginia areas of PJM, as well as the southwestern Pennsylvania portion of Allegheny Power’s zone, including the everexpanding Pittsburgh suburbs.

Staggers said the benefits to the West Virginia economy also include an estimated 700 jobs during the construction phase (2007-11). There is also the potential that more coal used in power plants will come from West Virginia.

The Halleck Community Association remains unconvinced.

“We are of course hopeful that the commissioners will conclude that there are viable alternatives to TrAIL and deny TrAILCo a certificate that grants eminent domain,” Balasko said, “but should they decide to approve its construction, our options will be to request a rehearing and to appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court.

This story comes out of Maryland, and concerns the second power line that Allegheny wants to ram down our throats — the so-called PATH line. (Does someone stay up nights thinking up innocent cute-sounding names for power lines that will blight the landscape?)

Why is this important now?

At the end of the story, we see Allegheny’s real strategy. They don’t care what West Virginia does with TrAIL (or PATH). They don’t care that Maryland and Pennsylvania have rejected these power lines. They intend to get the Feds to do their dirty work for them … all in the name of national interest. (Big city interest is more like it.)

Read on:

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) ― State officials are urging local government leaders in several Maryland counties to prepare now for an upcoming debate over a proposed multistate high-voltage line.

The so-called PATH power line is planned by Allegheny Energy and American Electric Power. It would run from St. Albans, W.Va,, to Kemptown, Md., a community near where Frederick, Montgomery, Howard and Carroll counties meet.

Allegheny Power says the precise route may not be determined until the end of the year. The companies would then seek regulatory approval from the appropriate states.

The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail reports that a representative from Maryland’s Power Plant Research Program urged local governments and other interested parties at a meeting last week to start preparing now for the state regulatory process.

They were told that foot-dragging could enable the project to bypass the state process and win approval from federal regulators.

Bill wrote the following letter which appeared in the print edition of the Hampshire Review earlier this month:

Editor:
As you noted in your article of April 23rd, the West Virginia Public Service Commission has delayed until August 2nd its decision on the Allegheny Power application to construct the TrAIL power line. They have reached an agreement in which Allegheny Power has made further concessions, which they claim show their “commitment to balancing all interests and minimizing TrAIL’s impact on customers, communities and the environment”.

The details of this agreement and reactions to it will be available on the Capon Valley Coalition website (caponvalleycoalition.com) and linked sites. (Coming soon.)

In fact, the agreement doesn’t “balance” or “minimize” anything. If approved, the power line (and the proposed PATH power line, even bigger and coming soon) will take our property, destroy property values and damage our environment, in order to provide electrical power to other states at our expense, and enormous profits to Allegheny Power and its management.

Hearings have been held in Virginia and Pennsylvania and the decisions of their state utility commissions are pending. There has been overwhelming opposition to TrAIL expressed at these hearings, as there was in WV.

The PA state consumer advocate was quoted as saying it “isn’t necessary”; a Public Utilities Commission staff analyst “doesn’t believe Allegheny Power has satisfied all applicable statutes and regulations”; and the Pennsylvania Energy Conservation Council believes Allegheny Energy’s “reasons for building the project (were) not supported in the data”.

The state of Arizona has denied an application for a similar power line to supply power to Southern California, and the energy company will ask the U. S. Dept. of Energy to approve it over Arizona’s denial.

The U. S. Senate will apparently schedule hearings to review the National Interest Electrical Transmission Corridor legislation which permits this.

Allegheny Power has sent a letter to the Hampshire County Commision asking them to support the TrAIL application, reversing the Commission’s previous resolution opposing it. The recent agreement does not warrant a reversal of this position, and we strongly urge our County Commissioners and all county citizens concerned about our environment, scenic beauty, and property rights and values to continue to oppose TrAIL.
William Golemon
Yellow Spring

Note: The Hampshire County Commissioners rejected the Allegheny Power request for support, and the Capon Valley Coalition applauds the commissioners for their action.

The Hampshire Review reported in its May 21 issue:

ROMNEY — Evidently, Allegheny Energy does not want to pay Hampshire County building permit fees for the massive power line towers that could be constructed in the county as part of the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL) high-voltage power line project.

Allegheny Energy recently informed the county planning office the company has never been required to pay building permit fees for power line towers.

Hampshire County Commission President Donald P. Cookman said he wants Allegheny Energy to show good cause why they shouldn’t pay the building permit fees.

Cookman said Allegheny Energy needs to document some type of “legal authority” to show why they believe they don’t have to pay the fee.

Commissioner Steve Slonaker highlighted what he observed as the irony of Allegheny Energy’s position.

Slonaker said the property owners in the county who face the prospect of having the Allegheny Energy towers constructed on their property have to pay building permit fees if they undertake any new construction on their property.

“So, why should the power company put a tower on that Hampshire County property owner’s land and not have to get a building permit and pay the fee,” Slonaker said.

Get the complete story in this week’s Review!