Greene leaders to appeal power line
WAYNESBURG – Greene County commissioners authorized the county solicitor Thursday to file an appeal to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in protest of Allegheny Energy’s proposed high-voltage power line that, if approved, would run through Greene and Washington counties. The proposed 240-mile, $820 million, 500-kilovolt Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL) has been the topic of much controversy since Allegheny Energy announced plans last year to construct the power line. Allegheny Power filed an application to construct the line with the state PUC in April.
The proposed power line has received a great deal of opposition from local and state leaders – including the commissioners – as well as members of a grassroots organization, all who have expressed concerns regarding the proposed line’s impact on residents’ health and property values, as well as the environment.
The appeal, which was presented Thursday to the media by county solicitor Farley Toothman after commissioners authorized Toothman to file the appeal during the board’s regular meeting, lists a summary of reasons why the board of commissioners is protesting Allegheny Energy’s application for the proposed power line.
The appeal states, among other reasons, that the county does not have enough information to reasonably determine whether the application meets the standards set forth by Pennsylvania code regarding the location of the high-voltage line.
Furthermore, the appeal states, “that the application does not meet the recently approved standards and guidelines of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Sustainable Energy Plan, as approved by Governor Rendell and DEP Secretary Katie McGinty.”
The appeal also addresses concerns that the power line will “create unreasonable risks of danger to the health and safety of the public,” and that it will have “an extremely adverse environmental impact” to the area.
According to the appeal, the application also does not define what efforts will be made in planning and/or construction, to minimize impacts to the state and county’s land, soil, plant and wildlife habitats, and its historic, scenic and wilderness areas.
The appeal also alleges that Allegheny Energy’s application “has not fully considered the availability of reasonable alternatives to the proposed power line to sources of power, reduction of electric consumption programs, routes designed to be underground, and/or using already established rights of way, to include but not limited to interstate highways.”
If approved, the power line would consist of a 37-mile stretch that would flow electricity from a “502 Junction” substation that would be built in Mount Morris to a new “Prexy” substation in Washington County. The line would also be connected to an existing substation in Mount Storm, W.Va., and then to a Dominion Virginia Power substation in Loudoun, Va.
In other news, commissioners agreed Thursday to extend a contract between the county and Wilbur Smith Associates, a Pittsburgh-based engineering firm hired last June to serve as the construction inspector for the county’s new multi-million dollar aquatic center.
Construction of the new center was initially expected to be completed by the Memorial Day weekend, but setbacks such as poor weather conditions and soil problems have delayed the opening of the center until the end of June.
County Chief Clerk Gene Lee said Thursday that the extended construction time means that the contract with Wilbur Smith Associates also needed to be extended. The firm is paid weekly and the additional fees are not to exceed $20,000, he added.
The new aquatic center, estimated to cost more than $3.3 million, replaces the 56-year-old Central Pool in Franklin Township. The new center will feature a half-Olympic size pool with diving boards, water slides, a community center, competitive swimming and diving, leisure activities, a training facility for lifeguards and a “lazy river.”
In other business, commissioners awarded a contract for new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units for two floors of the three-story county office building.
County Chief Clerk Gene Lee said the office building has separate HVAC units on each floor, and the awarded contract will pay for the replacement of HVAC units on the first and third floors.
The contract was awarded Thursday to Quality Mechanical Services of Verona, which submitted the apparent low bid of $81,375.29. Huckestein Mechanical Services of McKeesport submitted the other bid.
Commissioners awarded a contract in April for the replacement of the HVAC unit on the second floor to JB Mechanical Inc. of Bethel Park, which submitted the apparent low bid of $30,250.
Lee said the current HVAC units are 25 to 30 years old and are in need of replacement because they are not working sufficiently. The cost of replacing the units is expected to be funded through the county’s bond issue.