RICHARD BLUMENTHAL
Safety remains an issue

Despite efforts by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and representatives of several southwestern Connecticut towns, the state Siting Council at press time was still moving forward with plans to vote on a controversial power line upgrade.

The council was scheduled to vote on the matter yesterday, and it released a draft opinion last week saying it would approve the project.

At stake is the 69-mile power line upgrade between Middletown and Norwalk. Connecticut Light & Power Co. and United Illuminating Co. are requesting that the current, outdated transmission line serving southwestern Connecticut be updated. Part of the line is proposed to be buried, but controversy surrounds the above-ground part of the upgrade. Some residents in the area are concerned about electric and magnetic fields, or EMFs, which some studies have suggested can cause health problems.

In an oral argument last week, the attorney general suggested the Siting Council should consider more factors before coming to a final decision.

“Unprecedented in scale and scope, this transmission line will cut through one of the most densely populated and highly developed areas of the country, permanently and massively altering and scarring our landscape and directly impacting our health, environment and quality of life,” Blumenthal said, according to a press release from his office. “Connecticut’s economy and energy infrastructure – and the entire region – vitally need this transmission upgrade to deliver more affordable and reliable power. But it must be done with close and careful consideration of the environment and public health and safety.”

Earlier in the week, Blumenthal issued a statement saying the council’s draft opinion needed more work because it “raises as many questions as it answers.”

‘A Work in Progress’

The council’s draft opinion – which wasn’t available and was still in rough form at press time – is a narrative to take the reader through the council’s mentality while making the decision, according to Derek Phelps, executive director of the council.

Although the council was still intending to make the decision April 7, it’s possible some of the parties who are against the configuration of the upgrade – with a large part of it above-ground – will make an administrative appeal to the courts. The appeal can be made within 45 days of the decision.

On March 29, Blumenthal told the council that the project “remains a work in progress,” according to the Associated Press. He said there must be stricter standards to regulate the number of electric and magnetic fields that will be emitted by the line.

“Health and safety is still an open question,” Blumenthal said.

But lawyers for the power companies argued there is no scientific basis behind the health claims. They also told the council that a decision should be reached quickly.

“This is not a situation where there is six months to work on any of these things,” said Linda Randall, an attorney representing United Illuminating Co.

In an earlier statement, Blumenthal also noted the importance of an eventual upgrade.

“The 345-kilovolt line from Middletown to Norwalk is critically needed to provide reliable electric service in the state – and the entire region,” he said in a prepared statement. “This project would also help ease the economic burden imposed on all Connecticut consumers by unfair and unwise federally mandated charges and energy policies. The line must be built so as to protect our environment and public health. I look forward to personally arguing this case before the Siting Council and urging a workable, yet responsible, solution to our state’s energy needs.”

During Blumenthal’s statements to the Siting Council, he raised several key points, according to his office. There are ways to extend the April 7 decision deadline, or the council could deny the application without prejudice and restart the process.

He also told the council that the siting of the line should be environmentally sound. Many have been pushing to get more of the line buried despite some reports that say only 24 miles can be underground for technical reasons. The council should further explore burying as much of the line as possible, Blumenthal said.

Part of the reason many residents want more of the lines buried is because of health concerns.

“Electric and magnetic fields create a real and present danger to public health, particularly to our children, increasing the likelihood of childhood leukemia,” according to a statement from Blumenthal. “The Siting Council must do all that it can to reduce the EMFs below the level that the state Department of Public Health testified would not increase health risks. This is particularly critical near all schools, daycare facilities, youth camps, playgrounds and other locations where children congregate.”

Even if the entire line can’t be buried, the Siting Council should mitigate the EMF levels, Blumenthal said. Some of that mitigation can include a 300-foot buffer zone wherever practical.

“The council is obligated to mitigate EMF levels for the entire length of the transmission facility, irrespective of existing EMF levels in particular areas,” according to the statement. “Proposals or so-called ‘standards’ that would allow unsafe levels of EMFs … directly violate a legislative directive to reduce EMF levels to protect the public health and safety.”

Blumenthal also said that taking private property should be a last resort.