Opponents speak out on proposed power line in Franklin County

(Chambersburg) —  Even as hundreds of residents protested the proposed high voltage transmission lines at hearings held by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Tuesday in New Franklin’s Social Hall, dozens of teams of cross country runners from all over the region participated in a meet at the Tim Cook Memorial Cross Country Course in Franklin County.

Transource, developer of the Independence Energy Connection (IEC) project intended to deliver electricity to the Washington-Baltimore metro area, claims that the transmission lines are necessary to provide equitable electric rates for customers in that region. Although these customers are not lacking electricity, they pay more than customers in this area.

The proposed path of the power lines runs directly through the cross country course located next to Falling Spring Elementary School in Guilford Township.

Chris Monheim, head girls cross country coach at Chambersburg Area High School said, “The proposed line will definitely alter the course, if not destroy it completely.”

Monheim was busy coaching at the varsity cross country track meet Tuesday afternoon, but a colleague, Kim Calimer, read his statement to the judges at the 1 p.m. hearing. 

In his statement, he said the loss of the course would affect hundreds of athletes, parents, and community members, as well as the school’s cross country program.

If successful, Transource will take about 1,000 acres of prime farmland by force of eminent domain from county residents, including land owned by Chambersburg Area School District adjacent to the Falling Spring Elementary School.

Opponents called the Transource proposal an attack on their way of life, their livelihoods, and the pastoral nature of their communities.

Aaron Kauffman, a Chambersburg area farmer whose family lost 13 acres to eminent domain in the 1960s when Interstate 81 was built, now stands to lose more acreage to eminent domain if Transource is successful.

 “This is an attack on my family’s way of life,” he said. “New line construction should be a last resort.”

Much of the concern was over the loss of prime farmland which would be in the path of the transmission line. But opponents were also concerned about issues such as loss of tourism dollars and changes to the rural landscape that would result from this type of project. Concerns of personal safety for families, including school children attending Falling Spring Elementary School, also ranked high.

Rob Russell, a self-employed pilot from Greencastle, had a question for the PUC representatives.  He wanted to know “Does the power line project actually provide additional capabilities that don’t currently exist?”

 PUC administrative law judge Elizabeth Barnes told Russell that his questions were “spot on,” but conceded that information would not be available until the PUC investigation was complete. She added that it would be available on the PUC website at a later date.

Some people took issue with what they called “out of date” eminent domain laws. Others objected to what they called Transource’s illegal use of eminent domain. Those laws are intended to benefit the people from whom the land is taken, they said.

Calimer, a retired educator, called eminent domain among the most awesome powers of government.

“We must do everything possible to protect the rights of private property ownership. Eminent domain should be defined as narrowly as possible so that it is restricted to truly public purposes,” she said.

She said instead of benefiting local property owners, the Transource project would negatively affect many aspects of local life, including property values, taxes, the environment, tourism and commerce, agriculture, the safety of those in the path of the power line, and more.

“It will only bring harm and negative impact,” she said.

Kauffman said, “This power line has no benefit to my family, me, or (any) resident of Pennsylvania.”

Patrice Nitterhouse, Fayetteville, whose family has lived in Franklin County since the Revolutionary War, said she stood opposed to the use of eminent domain in this case.

“I believe it is a misuse of that power,” she said. “(That) power is to be for the good of the people; of the citizens. (But) there is no benefit to one Pennsylvanian by this project.”

She said that, in fact, it hurts the community by depriving it of prime farmland.

 “The soils and climate in Franklin County make it one of the richest agricultural areas in our state. We produce food for the Mid-Atlantic,” she said.

Waynesboro resident Martha “Dudley” Keller said the Transource project was “all pain, no gain” for area residents.

Clint Barkdoll, a Waynesboro attorney, cited a concern for decreased property values if the power line were to become reality. He cited a published report by two economics professors at a South Carolina University who said that property values decreased by 44.9 percent if the power line was on the property, and 17.9 percent if it was within 1000 feet of a property.

Many others expressed concerns for their property values in the event that Transource was successful with their plans.

Anne Finucane, a leader in the local arts community, said her property is about 200 yards from the proposed power line, addressing property value concerns.

Leah Nitterhouse, a Chambersburg pharmacist and stay-at-home mom, said the power line would cut right through the middle of her family’s 63-acre property.

Barkdoll, who represents the Waynesboro Owl’s Club, said the club would lose 38 acres of its property to eminent domain if the project becomes reality.

Tuesday’s hearings, as well as two hearings to be held in Airville in York County on Thursday, were scheduled following new findings related to the Transource applications involving the transmission line construction in Franklin and York counties. According to a PUC news release, the purpose was to give landowners who have not previously testified a chance to do so.

Eight public input hearings were held earlier this summer in the two counties, drawing a total audience of nearly 1,000 concerned residents and more than 200 speakers. The two judges conducting the hearings did not want the same testimony, but did encourage anyone who testified earlier to speak again if they had more to offer.

The 230KV project is designed to bring cheaper electricity to the Washington-Baltimore metro area. PJM, the manager of the power grid in the Mid-Atlantic, originated the efficiency project more than two years ago. Almost immediately, opponents in both counties began organizing to oppose the project.

The Franklin County Development Corporation, county commissioners, and Quincy Township supervisors oppose the project, as does the Chambersburg Area School District board of directors.

Proposed is a 29-mile western route that starts at I-81 exit 24 near Shippensburg, runs south near the Lowe’s parking lot on U.S. 30 in Guilford Township, then crosses residential developments, Falling Spring Creek, and the Falling Spring Elementary School property. It cuts through Five Forks in Quincy and crosses Pa. 16 at the western edge of Waynesboro, and then ends in Maryland near Ringgold.

According to Leonard Lindenmeyer, a retired engineer whose career was in the power industry, Transource will not maintain the land that they take for the project. This seems to imply that the landowners, who no longer have use of the land, will be responsible for maintenance, in spite Transource’s right-of-way across their properties.

Under the plan, Transource would build more than 200 towers, each more than 13 stories tall, along the proposed route through Franklin County. A similar line would run 16 miles through York County and Harford County, Md. 

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.