News and notices from Bury Northern Pass:
Concerned About the Northern Pass Project’s Impact on Historic Resources and Scenic Landscapes?
Critical steps for public input in federal and state review processes for the proposed Northern Pass project are imminent. Now is the time to learn more about how you can speak up for historic resources and scenic landscapes.
Attend an Advocacy Workshops in June
Special Historic Places, Northern Pass and You
Presented by the N.H. Preservation Alliance and National Trust for Historic Preservation
with presenters:
Rebecca Harris, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Maggie Stier, New Hampshire Preservation Alliance
and special guests from the
N.H. Division of Historical Resources
To Learn More and get dates and times of these workshops go to NH Preservation Alliance, News and Events
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Vermont Underground Power Line Project Passes with Overwhelming Resident Support
VT buried project kicks butt (there’s no better way to say it)
Just one year after Blackstone -TDI’s New England Clean Power Link filed for a presidential permit, the DOE has issued the Draft EIS, which is mostly favorable. NECPL is an entirely underground HVDC transmission project that will run from the Quebec border 100 miles under Lake Champlain, then 55 miles across VT buried in highway ROWs. It has generated virtually no opposition; indeed, it enjoys community support. The unprecedented speed with which the Draft EIS was issued shows what happens when developers design projects with community concerns in mind, not in spite of them. NECPL is also about halfway through the VT state permitting process.
This project garnered a mere dozen scoping comments v. nearly 8,000, overwhelmingly negative, for NP. The Draft EIS took only a year v. the nearly 5 years that NP’s will have taken when it is finally issued. By one opposition member’s count, NECPL’s total lobbyist expenses are approximately $2,500 while Northern Pass lobbyist expenses just for the year 2014 alone totaled approximately $250,000, not to mention the enormous sums spent on expensive NH and nationwide PR consulting firms, e.g., Scott Tranchemontagne’s Montagne Communications, Erik Taylor’s Elevare, Saint Consulting Group, TargetPoint Consulting, and others.
Selected quotes from the NECPL Draft EIS:
Following construction, the transmission cable would not affect use of the recreation facilities in the Overland Segment, because it would be buried underground in road and railroad ROWs. No permanent aboveground facilities would be constructed along this segment of the proposed Project route that would affect recreational resources. (5-63)
Operation of the Project would pose no risk to public health and safety because most of the cable would be buried underground. (5-64)
Because the Project would be buried, no long-term impacts to property values would be expected. (5-36)
Because the Project would be buried, no long-term impacts to residential property values would be expected. (5-37)
The next step in NECPL’s Draft EIS process is the 60-day hearing and comment phase. Public hearings are on July 15-16, with final written comments due on August 11.
News reports:
Progressive Action New Hampshire 