Debate, fight rage on at NYRI info meeting
NORWICH – Even though the Albany power line company was not there, Wednesday’s public New York Regional Interconnection meeting wouldn’t have been the same without a little debate.
There were roughly 300 people gathered in the Norwich High School auditorium when STOP NYRI co-chair Eve Ann Shwartz affirmed that last night’s gathering was just a quick pit stop on what will most likely be a long and arduous road fighting NYRI.
“We are here to check the pulse to see where we are,” said Shwartz. “And recognize that this fight is not over ... and we’ll go wherever the legal battle takes us.”
Questions from the crowd took a 12-person expert panel to task down several different paths – all seemingly leading to Albany and Washington. The queries reflected the numerous concerns of local communities, whose residents are hoping officials and agencies from both capitals will protect them from having to harbor a high voltage power line.
Local real estate broker Bruce Beadle provided one of the first public assessments of the power line’s effect on local property values – in this case before they even exist.
“The real-estate market is the victim of perception, and right now the public perceives that we are in a battle,” said Beadle. “The activity level has dropped off severely. Is this affecting us? Absolutely.” Beadle said that he has had several prospective investors hold off on projects to await the final decision on the power line, which could take years.
Also at issue was the constitutionality of the newly-signed eminent domain law removing NYRI’s power to take private property without negotiations, in order to secure land for its proposal.
“They should have repealed the entire section and made a change in policy,” said local attorney Mary Jo Long, who argued that the law will not stop NYRI because it was made ex-post facto, meaning it wasn’t created before NYRI met the legal criteria. “Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to change the policy that gives private corporations the power of eminent domain.”
State Senator Jim Seward (R-Milford), along with Senator Tom Libous (R-Binghamton), argued that the strength of bill will probably undergo many different interpretations. “We had an immediate threat we had to deal with, and we put together a piece of legislation to face that immediate threat,” Seward said. “They can argue till the cows come home, but it is a significant roadblock. No one can argue that.”
Many questions about the state’s Article VII power line approval process and possibility of federal involvement under the 2005 Energy Policy Act were directed at the New York State Public Service Commission representative, Secretary Jaclyn Brilling. Brilling pointed out that NYRI has yet to re-submit the application the PSC ruled deficient in July. She also pointed out that federal involvement can only occur under certain circumstances – circumstances she said would only ever be applicable if and when NYRI re-submits corrections, and if and when the U.S. Department of Energy creates National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.
According to Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, the loss of agricultural land is an important consideration to fight for. “The nation’s food supply is a matter of national security,” said Vickers, who claimed that the U.S. was losing two acres of farm land per minute, and that 65 miles of farm land would be lost to the power line. “We can’t afford to lose a single foot.”
Environmental expert Troy Bystrom, who represents Communities Against Regional Interconnect, the eight-county alliance, said that the group has enlisted the help of Columbia law students to prove that NYRI’s project and the assignment of federal corridors violates state and federal mandates protecting the environment.
“We are fighting the whole concept of the NIETC,” said Bystrom, citing a host of endangered species and protected wildlife areas he said “will be impeded by the NIETC and the NYRI project specifically.”
Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum, a long time radiologist and NYRI opponent, hopes that the PSC will consider the extremely negative health effects he believes the line would cause. “We’ve heard the concerns over property values,” Rosenblum said. “We need to even more so be concerned about the deprivation of life – for them to say there are no health risks is simply an outrage.”
NYRI is an Albany-based company proposing to run a 400,000 volt power line from Oneida to Orange County to relieve energy constraints downstate.
There were roughly 300 people gathered in the Norwich High School auditorium when STOP NYRI co-chair Eve Ann Shwartz affirmed that last night’s gathering was just a quick pit stop on what will most likely be a long and arduous road fighting NYRI.
“We are here to check the pulse to see where we are,” said Shwartz. “And recognize that this fight is not over ... and we’ll go wherever the legal battle takes us.”
Questions from the crowd took a 12-person expert panel to task down several different paths – all seemingly leading to Albany and Washington. The queries reflected the numerous concerns of local communities, whose residents are hoping officials and agencies from both capitals will protect them from having to harbor a high voltage power line.
Local real estate broker Bruce Beadle provided one of the first public assessments of the power line’s effect on local property values – in this case before they even exist.
“The real-estate market is the victim of perception, and right now the public perceives that we are in a battle,” said Beadle. “The activity level has dropped off severely. Is this affecting us? Absolutely.” Beadle said that he has had several prospective investors hold off on projects to await the final decision on the power line, which could take years.
Also at issue was the constitutionality of the newly-signed eminent domain law removing NYRI’s power to take private property without negotiations, in order to secure land for its proposal.
“They should have repealed the entire section and made a change in policy,” said local attorney Mary Jo Long, who argued that the law will not stop NYRI because it was made ex-post facto, meaning it wasn’t created before NYRI met the legal criteria. “Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to change the policy that gives private corporations the power of eminent domain.”
State Senator Jim Seward (R-Milford), along with Senator Tom Libous (R-Binghamton), argued that the strength of bill will probably undergo many different interpretations. “We had an immediate threat we had to deal with, and we put together a piece of legislation to face that immediate threat,” Seward said. “They can argue till the cows come home, but it is a significant roadblock. No one can argue that.”
Many questions about the state’s Article VII power line approval process and possibility of federal involvement under the 2005 Energy Policy Act were directed at the New York State Public Service Commission representative, Secretary Jaclyn Brilling. Brilling pointed out that NYRI has yet to re-submit the application the PSC ruled deficient in July. She also pointed out that federal involvement can only occur under certain circumstances – circumstances she said would only ever be applicable if and when NYRI re-submits corrections, and if and when the U.S. Department of Energy creates National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.
According to Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, the loss of agricultural land is an important consideration to fight for. “The nation’s food supply is a matter of national security,” said Vickers, who claimed that the U.S. was losing two acres of farm land per minute, and that 65 miles of farm land would be lost to the power line. “We can’t afford to lose a single foot.”
Environmental expert Troy Bystrom, who represents Communities Against Regional Interconnect, the eight-county alliance, said that the group has enlisted the help of Columbia law students to prove that NYRI’s project and the assignment of federal corridors violates state and federal mandates protecting the environment.
“We are fighting the whole concept of the NIETC,” said Bystrom, citing a host of endangered species and protected wildlife areas he said “will be impeded by the NIETC and the NYRI project specifically.”
Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum, a long time radiologist and NYRI opponent, hopes that the PSC will consider the extremely negative health effects he believes the line would cause. “We’ve heard the concerns over property values,” Rosenblum said. “We need to even more so be concerned about the deprivation of life – for them to say there are no health risks is simply an outrage.”
NYRI is an Albany-based company proposing to run a 400,000 volt power line from Oneida to Orange County to relieve energy constraints downstate.
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