Power line’s route would mar plans for Pea Ridge, U.S. says

The preferred route for a proposed high-voltage transmission line would cross land that’s planned for an addition to Pea Ridge National Military Park, according to Michael T. Reynolds, regional director for the U.S. Department of the Interior in Omaha, Neb.

“The construction of such a large transmission line … would degrade critical battlefield lands outside the park that were identified in a 2006 [study] for a possible boundary adjustment,” Reynolds wrote in an Aug. 20 letter to the Arkansas Public Service Commission.

The power line would be a “scenic barrier” between the park and what had been Union trenches, he wrote.

Reynolds disagreed with Southwestern Electric Power Co., which stated in a June 10 letter to the commission that its proposed Route 33 will “not traverse the planned additions to the park.”

SWEPCO filed with the commission on April 3 to build a 345-kilovolt power line from a proposed Kings River Station near Berryville to the Shipe Road Station near Centerton. The line would be 46-59 miles long, depending on the route chosen.

On Wednesday, Stephen Thornhill testified before the commission that the Interior Department wasn’t notified about plans to build the power line because none of the proposed routes crossed the Pea Ridge park.

Thornhill is a project manager with Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. of Kansas City, Mo., which did the environmental impact study for the power line.

Thornhill said the Aug. 20 letter from Reynolds and earlier letters from people in the Interior Department were “public comments,” not testimony in the case.

David Matthews, the attorney for SWEPCO, said potential impacts to the Pea Ridge park are mentioned several times in the study. Matthews noted that Reynolds’ letter was filed with the commission on Tuesday, which was the second day of what may be a week-long hearing on the proposed power line.

“We’ve been here long time already, and it could go forever,” Matthews said during Wednesday’s hearing.

Connie Griffin, an administrative law judge with the commission, is 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, said John Bethel, the commission’s executive director. She could determine the best route for the line or decide the project isn’t necessary. The three-person commission can overrule Griffin, and opponents can appeal the commission’s decision to the Arkansas Court of Appeals,Bethel said.

SWEPCO is required to build transmission projects within its service area if the Southwest Power Pool determines they are necessary, Matthews said in his opening statement on Monday.

The pool is a regional transmission organization under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is responsible for planning electrical transmission needs for 6 million households in nine states.

Matthews said much of north Arkansas is served by a network of 161-kilovolt power lines that are “intended to serve local load and were constructed as electric service was brought into the area.”

Southwest Power Pool studies show that by 2016, some of the existing 161-kilovolt lines will overload if there’s a power failure on a 345-kilovolt line that goes from the Flint Creek Station in Benton County to Springfield, Mo.

“In short, the basis for the need for these facilities is to ensure a reliable and efficient transmission system in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri,” said Matthews.

The power line proposal has generated thousands of comments from people opposed to the project, at public comment hearings in Eureka Springs and Rogers, and filed electronically.

Three routes are still being considered: 33, 108 and 109. The routes are primarily in Benton and Carroll counties.

From the proposed Kings River substation near Berryville heading west, route 33 would travel north of Eureka Springs, through Gateway and Garfield, then southwest between Bentonville and Bella Vista. That route would cost about $96.3 million.

Route 108 would go south into Madison and Washington counties before crossing Bethel Heights and along the western edge of Cave Springs. Constructing that route would cost about $117.4 million.

Route 109 would go north of Eureka Springs, then north along the Arkansas-Missouri line before turning south on the west side of Bella Vista. That route would cost $102.8 million.

Six towers would be needed every mile and would average 130-160 feet tall, according to the company’s proposal. A 150-foot-wide right of way also would be required.

SWEPCO has said it wants the approval process and design engineering done 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.

Arkansas, Pages 8 on 08/29/2013

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