Five state senators express opposition to power line

“I haven’t heard on person who is in favor of this thing”

By FRITZ MAYER

NORWICH, NY — Five senators expressed open opposition to the power lines proposed by New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) at a New York State Senate hearing on June 15.

“I have never encountered an issue that has met with total opposition,” said Senator David Valesky.

“Not one single person has told me they support this,” said Senator Raymond Meier. The issue, he said, has brought out a sense of community in the region that he had not seen in a long time.

The invited speakers were mostly against the project.

Eve Anne Schwarz, one of the founders of an organization called Stop NYRI, said her groups opposes the project “because it is bad energy policy, bad economic policy and bad planning for the future of New York State.” She said the any economic benefit to downstate residents would be offset by hardships to upstate residents.

Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum, a Norwich radiologist, testified against the NYRI project due to possible health effects. In their Article 7 application to the New York Public Service Commission, (PSC), NYRI executives claimed that the magnetic field from the power lines would be “too week” to produce any negative health effects. Rosenblum said the National Institutes of Environmental Health Services¾a U.S. agency¾considers emissions from power lines as “possibly carcinogenic,” and therefore recommends limiting exposure whenever possible.

David Hall, president of the Chenango County Chamber of Commerce, said that the power lines would have negative effects on the economy of the region, including the reduction of property values. He said studies have shown that the presence of power lines near a property reduces the value by 10 to 25 percent.

The hearing was the first official meeting held by any governmental group.

PSC secretary Jaclyn Brilling said that the project had entered the “application phase” with regard to acquiring permits, and that seven more phases lie ahead. She said the permitting process typically take 16 months, but might be longer depending on the issues brought forward.

She said the PSC considers a wide range of factors when deciding whether to issue permits, including whether an electricity bottleneck might be mitigated with alternative sources of energy. The PCS also considers re-routing power lines when special circumstances arise. One commissioner referenced that a power line was re-routed so as not to disturb a parcel of land on which a young girl had been buried decades ago.

NYRI executives spoke at the end of the session and repeated their contention that the project would result in cleaner air and an improved environment because it would allow for greater distribution of clean sources of energy such as wind power. They also admitted that any reduction in the price of electricity would not benefit consumers in and near Norwich, but would instead benefit consumers in the Hudson Valley and residents to the south.

Senator James W. Wright, the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee who arranged the hearing, is working on another hearing to be held in Orange or Sullivan County, which would include Senator John Bonacic.