Written by CHRIS COLLINS Baker City Herald May 15, 2009
http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Residents-talk-about-power-line-concerns
Residents of Northeastern Oregon got a brief chance to bring their concerns about Idaho Power Co.’s proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line to members of the Oregon Department of Energy’s Energy Siting Council Thursday night.
The session, scheduled to end at 8 p.m., was extended by more than an hour, but still left many in the audience frustrated by the time constraints they faced after being invited to speak before the council.
Thursday’s session began with a brief overview of the council’s role in the process by Adam Bless, an energy facility analyst with the Department of Energy. Next to speak was Eric Hackett, project manager for Idaho Power Co., and Kent McCarthy, Idaho Power Co. planner, who has been charged with leading community advisory process as the plan moves forward.
Ted Davis, acting field manager for the Bureau of Land Management in Baker City, explained how the BLM will consider the environmental impact of Idaho Power’s plan under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The meeting was opened to public comment at 7:50 p.m.
The 92 people assembled at the meeting combined their comments or deferred to others to speak for them as they worked to make the most of the schedule that was left to them. Council members were asked to consider the impact the transmission line would have on livestock and farm production in the areas as well as the region’s historic and cultural resources and the health of residents.
Nancy Peyron, a founder and chair of the Baker County group Move Idaho Power, said the people she has talked to today said they were disappointed that there was nothing new presented by agency representatives during the meeting and yet members of the public were restricted in their ability to express their concerns.
“They really didn’t want our input,” she said of Thursday’s meeting. “So they shouldn’t have said they did.”
The meeting was attended by W. Bryan Wolfe of Hermiston who chaired the session, and fellow council members Cheri Davis and Lori Brogoitti. They began the day with a tour of Malheur County, led by Roger Findley of the Stop Idaho Power citizens group, and were reluctant to extend Thursday’s meeting past three hours.
Wolfe said the tour gave the council a better understanding of how residents of the area would be affected if the power line ran through their property.
“It was a very good turnout,” he said, adding that he extended the meeting’s length as a courtesy to the large crowd. “There were a lot of people here with things to say and I wanted to let them have the opportunity to speak.
“This is an open process,” he added. “They should realize that their voices are heard and that their thoughts and opinions are considered.”
McCarthy said that since Idaho Power took its original plan off the table in March, the company has been working to organize committees of residents in each region between Boardman and Hemingway, Idaho. The two end points are all that remain of the original siting plan for the transmission line.
A meeting is scheduled June 4 for residents of Baker and Union counties.
We wonder how much comment time will be made available to members of Kent McCarthy's Community Advisory Committees . . .
