NORWICH – More than a thousand property owners in Chenango County would be either displaced or lose land through eminent domain if the New York Regional Interconnect power line becomes a reality, according to a list compiled by two concerned citizens.

“There is a possibility these folks would be the first U.S. citizens to become refugees in their own land since the American Civil War,” Perry Owen told members of the Chenango County Planning Board Tuesday.

Using Chenango County tax maps, Owen and his wife, Venetia, created a database of properties that rest within 1,000 feet of the center of the transmission line’s proposed corridor. <a href="http://www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI</a>’s 190-mile long line (44 miles of which lie in Chenango County) follows the national interest electric transmission corridor recently proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The highest concentration of threatened properties are in towns and villages adjacent to the partially abandoned New York Susquehanna & Western railroad.

“These data are only from one affected county. There are seven other counties which comprise the corridor. One can only imagine the social devastation resulting from such an action by the DOE. Thousands of citizens would be displaced and experience great privation,” he said.