Three of the six proposed routes for a high-voltage electric transmission line in Benton and Carroll counties now have “least favored” status and should be removed from consideration, according to testimony filed Friday with the Arkansas Public Service Commission.
Those routes - 62, 86 and 91 - go between Bentonville and Bella Vista and over part of Beaver Lake, which would require an easement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to Brian Johnson of Tulsa, project manager in the transmission engineer-ing and project services department of American Electric Power Co.
Johnson filed written testimony Friday on behalf of Southwestern Electric Power Co., which is a subsidiary of American Electric Power Co. and the official applicant for permission to build the power line.
The Corps won’t allow easements if “practical alternatives exist,” he wrote in the 23-page filing.
Thousands of people have filed comments opposing the transmission line since it was proposed by SWEPCO in April.
Johnson said there had been much concern from the public about any routes that would be near Thorncrown Chapel, Inspiration Point and downtown Eureka Springs, all of which are in Carroll County.
The three routes recommended for removal are also the routes that are closest to Eureka Springs, Thorncrown Chapel and Inspiration Point.
The ranking of SWEPCO’s preferred routes are now 33, 109 and 108, according to Johnson.
From Berryville heading west, Route 33 goes north of Eureka Springs, through Gateway and Garfield, then southwest between Bentonville and Bella Vista.
Route 109 goes north of Eureka Springs, then north along the Arkansas-Missouri line before turning south on the west side of Bella Vista.
Route 108 goes south into Madison and Washington counties before crossing Bethel Heights and along the western edge of Cave Springs.
“Those routes provide practical alternatives to the routes which would require a Corps of Engineers easement to cross Beaver Lake in the Indian Creek area,” he wrote. DECISION UP TO PSC
A final hearing will be held on the power line beginning Aug. 26 at the Public Service Commission building in Little Rock and could last several days.
John Bethel, executive director of the commission,said the commission could choose a route different from any of the proposed routes, or it could determine the line isn’t needed and shouldn’t be built.
SWEPCO applied April 3 to build a substation near Berryville and to run a 345-kilovolt power line from there to Centerton. The transmission line would be 46 to 59 miles long, depending on the route chosen, and require a 150-foot-wide right of way. Six towers would be needed every mile and would average 130 feet to 160 feet tall.
The project would cost an estimated $116.7 million.
In its application, the utility stated that the transmission line and new power station are necessary to meet growing demands for electricity in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.
SWEPCO hopes to have the approval process completed in December and to begin construction of the line in March 2015. The company wants the new line to be in service by June 1, 2016.
Opponents say the line will cause environmental damage and affect tourism in an area of the Ozark Mountains known for its beauty.
They also are concerned about the use of herbicides to maintain the right of way.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
In his testimony Friday, Johnson said SWEPCO normally uses herbicides to control “woody vegetation” in a right of way anywhere from annually to once every six years, depending on several factors.
“Routine application would typically occur every three to five years,” he said.
Johnson said SWEPCO uses care when applying herbicides and doesn’t apply them near water sources or on windy days.
He said the company won’t apply insecticides within the right of way.
Opponents have also been concerned about possible health effects from electromagnetic fields around the proposed power line.
Louis Hosek of Dallas also filed testimony Friday on behalf of SWEPCO. Hosek is manager of industrial hygiene for American Electric Power Service Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Electric Power Co.
“There is no conclusive evidence that [electromagnetic fields] can cause adverse health effects,” he stated.
Hosek said the amount of electricity coming from a 345-kilovolt power line wouldn’t be enough to interfere with implanted medical devices, such as pacemakers.
Hosek cited a 2005 order from the Public Service Commission acknowledging public concern over electromagnetic fields but noting “the vast majority of the scientific studies to date simply do not support the fears.” That hasn’t changed since 2005, he said.
GEOLOGICAL CONCERNS
Opponents have also criticized SWEPCO’s environmental impact study, saying among other things that it didn’t address the area’s limestone-rich karst geology.
In a June 28 filing, Pat Costner of Eureka Springs expressed concern about subterranean life in the Ozarks. Costner is a former senior scientist at Greenpeace International who filed her testimony on behalf of Save the Ozarks, a group that has been fighting the power-line proposal.
“I am concerned that construction of this line … will cause irreparable damage to the area’s caves, springs and streams,” Costner wrote. Drilling large boreholes “can be expected to dislodge and break the stalactites and stalagmites in Onyx Cave and the many other caves in the area.”
Costner said the Arkansas Geological Survey indicates there are more than 1,000springs within a 7-mile radius of Eureka Springs, and at least 20 of them are on her property.
“The process of constructing a power line of this size through this fragile karst terrain will cause untold, irreparable damage to the springs, caves and other karst features,” she wrote.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY
Stephen G. Thornhill, associate project manager with Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. of Kansas City, Mo., submitted rebuttal testimony Friday. SWEPCO hired Burns & McDonnell to conduct a route selection study and environmental impact study, which were required by the state as part of SWEPCO’s application for the transmission line.
Thornhill said the environmental impact study was done to to satisfy the requirements under Arkansas Code Annotated 23-18-511(8)(B)(i-iv).
With proper geotechnical information, transmission lines can be constructed through karst areas, Thornhill wrote.
“While minor differences in geology under alternative routes may occur, typically transmission lines do not impact geology,” according to Thornhill.
As noted by other witnesses, he wrote, “detailed geotechnical investigations are required prior to design and construction of transmission lines to properly design and construct the project.”
“Therefore geology and karst features are more of an engineering, design and construction issue, not an actual routing issue,” wrote Thornhill. “To illustrate this point, numerous existing transmission lines, pipelines, roads, bridges, homes, businesses, towns, tourist attractions and Beaver Lake have been constructed and safely maintained and operated for decades across Northwest Arkansas and this karst topography.”
Thornhill said the study does discuss karst features including caves, springs, sinkholes, as well as endangeredspecies that live in those areas.
Joseph Paul Hassink of Tulsa, director of west transmission planning for American Electric Power Service Corp., also filed testimony Friday on behalf of SWEPCO.
Hassink said SWEPCO has about 70,000 retail customers in Northwest Arkansas and about 113,000 in the entire state. SWEPCO’s customers account for about 53 percent of the power load in Northwest Arkansas. Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. serves the rest, wrote Hassink.
American Electric Power Co. is predicting a 2.2 percent annual growth rate in electricity demand for Northwest Arkansas through 2023. The rate was 3.4 percent annually from 1997-2012.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/20/2013