On Aug. 5, when Jamie Harvey went to get her mail from her mailbox on Bear Hollow Road south of Jane, in addition to her regular delivery from the post o◊ce, there was a fl ier inside about a 345-kilovolt power line being proposed by Southwestern Electric Power Co. from north of Berryville, Ark., to near Centerton, Ark.
This was the first Harvey had heard about the possibility of the line coming into Missouri - even though one of the six (since pared to three) routes would cross her 17 acres, requiring a 150-foot wide right-of-way. The right-of-way would make room for six towers per mile, averaging 130-160 feet tall. The towers would require foundation holes 40-50 deep and up to 10 feet wide.
“I had heard about the line in Arkansas, but had no idea that it could cross my property,” Harvey said. “The one route goes right down the middle of my 17 acres.”
Since that day just a month ago, Harvey has been busy.
“I contacted Bill Lant (State Representative) and he did not know about it either,” Harvey said.“I contacted the Save The Ozarks (opposition group) and joined. I educated myself on what was really going on.”
Harvey also began talking to other landowners along the proposed Missouri route. She eventually obtained 17 affidavits citing the lack of notice and opposition from landowners in the Bear Hollow area where the proposed route would cross and fi ve others from neighboring landowners.
She then presented those documents at a hearing last week to the Arkansas Public Service Commission held in Little Rock.
“Any of the proposed routes is bad,” Harvey said. “I oppose all of them. There is strong opposition in northwest Arkansas because the line is not to benefit our community, but just pass through. In addition to being a visual eyesore, I worry about the chemicals they use for pesticides and herbicides that will get into our water. It would be devastating to people’s lives.”
Lant reported that he thought he heard good news during last week’s hearing.
“After hearing from the lawyers for SWEPCO and the other power company entities and also the lawyers for several of the a◊ected property owners, the Publicservice Commission testifi ed that the proposal through Arkansas communities, after being altered to appease some property owners, met all their criteria,” Lant said. “It is the shortest route and as such would be the least expensive. The PSC said that since the proposal met all seven of their requirements, they could find no objection to that route. That is indeed good news for Missouri property owners. I think we can stop worrying for now at least.”
John Bethel, executive director of the commission, said the hearing could go into a second week. If that happens, Connie Gri◊n, administrative judge with the Arkansas Public Service Commission, said she is unavailable next week, so the hearing would have to be scheduled for some time after that.
Gri◊n has been overseeing the hearing at Public Service Commission headquarters in Little Rock.
Griffin will make a decision within 60 days of the end of the hearing. She could determine the best route for the line or decide the project isn’t necessary. The three-person commission can overrule Gri◊n and opponents can appeal the commission’s decisionto the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Bethel said.
SWEP CO has said it wants the approval process and design engineeringdone by December. After right-of-way acquisition, construction is scheduled to begin by March 2015, and the company wants the new line to be in service by June 2016.
News, Pages 1 on 09/05/2013