The Magic Valley Times-News has been reporting on the progress of the Gateway West line through southern Idaho. See if you can spot similarities with B2H:
(1) BLM: Holes of little harm Bureau says transmission project drilling won't cause significant damage By Nate Poppino Times-News writer June 19, 2009 http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/06/19/news/local_state/164484.txt
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management believes the drilling of more than 900 boreholes along the proposed route for a new transmission-line project will not cause any significant harm to public lands.
The agency announced its finding regarding preliminary work for the 1,150-mile Gateway West Trans-mission Line project in a draft environmental assessment released Thursday. Officials will gather public comment on the document until July 22, before any official adoption of the finding.
(Visit the BLM's website for information & to make comments: http://www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/cfodocs/gateway_west/)
. . . The boreholes are needed for early geotechnical work for designing the foundations and support structures holding the lines. . .
(2) Gateway West opponents question Idaho Power Residents want utility to consider alternate routes By Laurie Welch Times-News writer June 23, 2009 http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/06/23/news/minicassia/164752.txt
BURLEY - Several Cassia County residents expressed frustration Monday over what they deemed an unresponsive attitude by Idaho Power Co. officials in regards to alternatives to a proposed route for a new power transmission line that may cross private property in the county.
Idaho Power's joint project with Rocky Mountain Power proposes 1,150 miles of 230- and 500-kilovolt transmission lines that run from Wyoming through southern Idaho. Under Idaho Power's proposal 70 miles of the line would run through Cassia County and 60 miles would be located on private property, which would impact 160 property owners in the county. The work on the line would begin in 2011 and portions of the project are slated for completion by 2014. . .
"Is it Idaho Power's way or no way?" asked Declo resident Von Gibby after Idaho Power officials told a group of about 40 people that an alternative route proposed for the new line by an opposition group called the Cassia County Gateway West Transmis-sion Task Force was not feasible from the company's prospective. "Is that the issue here? Are we at logger-heads?"
Cassia County Commissioner Clay Handy said the county's position is based on its land-use plan that public use should be placed on public land.
Handy said the county endorses further examination into the proposed southern routes in the county with as little impact on private land as possible.
(3) Concerned about proposed power transmission line http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/06/23/opinion/letters/164716_22.txt
I appreciated your coverage of the June 1 meeting in Burley regarding the Idaho Power Gateway West transmission line project. The most striking thing was that this was the first public meeting on this project to be held in Cassia County, even though thousands of acres of private land could be affected and Idaho Power has been working on the project for nearly a year and a half.
If not for Monday's public meeting arranged by the Cassia County commissioners, many residents of Cassia County would still not be aware of what the electric company is planning. . . . It disturbs me to attend recent public meetings and hear that on public lands, the right of way for sage grouse nests and other protected species is greater than 3,000 feet. But for my apparently unprotected family, the requirement is only 150 feet. . . As a concerned and directly impacted citizen, I recommend that the route be moved to public land to as much extent as possible.
STAN BAKER, Burley
(4) Gateway West meeting held in Burley By Damon Hunzeker Times-News writer June 23, 2009 http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/06/30/news/minicassia/165264.txt
BURLEY - The third in a series of meetings about Idaho Power Co.'s Gateway West project was held Monday at Burley City Hall. . .
The Gateway West project comprises 230- and 500-kilovolt power lines costing nearly $2 billion that would extend from a substation near Glenrock, Wyo., to another station near Melba.
Nearly 60 miles of transmission lines would run through private property in Cassia County, including some farms that are 100 years old, affecting as many as 160 property owners.
Alan Dornfest and Greg Cade, both of the Idaho State Tax Commission, addressed the crowd of about 45 people and said the project could result in decreased assessments of tax levies on property owners.
. . . Members of the Cassia County Gateway West Task Force, a group of citizens and community leaders, hope to persuade Idaho Power to move the transmission lines from the proposed rights-of-way on private property to areas of public property. . .
