JOPLIN — A power company would be blocked from building a 340,000-volt transmission line through two Missouri counties under a newly introduced bill.
The Joplin Globe reported that southwest Missouri lawmakers introduced the bill in the House this past week. Twelve days earlier, an Arkansas judge gave the green light to Southwestern Electric Power Co., a subsidiary of American Electric Power, to build the line along Route 109.
Spanning 25 miles in southwestern Missouri and 31 in northwestern Arkansas, Route 109 begins in Benton County, Ark., goes north to cross the southern reaches of McDonald and Barry counties in Missouri. It then turns south to reach its endpoint near Berryville in Carroll County, Ark.