Energy firm's plan worries residents near Libby
LIBBY - Residents at the end of Kootenai River Road are getting organized to fight a Bonneville Power Administration proposal that could expand the existing transmission-line right of way.
The BPA informed residents earlier this summer that it was looking at rebuilding 17 miles of the 115-kilovolt transmission line and towers, which are about 50 years old. The wooden poles are deteriorating as well as cross members.
The proposed rebuild follows the BPA's existing right-of-way with three possible reroutings. The new routes would bypass residences adjacent to Libby and in what's being called the Big Horn Terrace area, but could affect nearly every property owner from Upper Quartz Creek Road to the end of the Kootenai River Road.
Property owners are concerned the BPA will expand the existing right-of-way, forcing them to sell land or move their homes. Several homes are either within the existing 80-foot right-of-way or on the edge of it.
The BPA told residents in July that structures within the easement will be moved and property purchased for additional easement, said Richard Wilkonski, who grew up in the Big Horn Terrace area and has a mobile home within the existing right-of-way.
"I left the meeting with the impression that they had already made up their minds but they won't let us know until spring 2007," Wilkonski said.
The BPA wanted people to comment on the proposed alternatives by Sept. 30 but has extended the deadline to Oct. 30.
The BPA alternatives are:
-Rebuild the 115-kilovolt line on newer wood poles with some wood-pole equivalent steel poles;
-Rebuild the line as a double-circuit 115-kilovolt on tubular steel towers;
-Rebuild the line as a double-circuit 230-kilovolt line on steel towers;
-Take no action.
The three rebuilding alternatives would require the BPA to purchase additional right-of-way, according to a scoping letter released by BPA earlier this month.
The existing right-of-way ranges from 60 to 80 feet. The BPA is proposing to expand that right-of-way to 100 feet and possibly 125 feet if it decides on a double-circuit 230-kilovolt line on steel towers.
Sixty-nine people are listed among the concerned residents living at the end of the Kootenai River Road who are working with each other on these proposals.
"Everybody is quite concerned about this even if they're not affected by the right of way," Wilkonski said recently.
Wilkonski said the issues presented in the BPA proposal deal with property values and human health.
"We all support the alternative of going up Upper Quartz Creek Road," he said.
BPA project manager Kirk Robinson said there is not much reason to be alarmed.
He said the BPA is looking to the environmental impact statement for the project to guide the agency in making a decision.
The draft environmental study is due in the spring.
The state of Montana proposed the alternative routes away from residential areas, Robinson said.
"We are looking at it seriously," he said. "We are making an attempt to miss some Plum Creek land that they might want to sell. We are also looking to avoid getting any closer to private property."
Robinson said the geography of the area limits what the BPA can do.
"We're making every attempt to avoid private property," he said.
"There are lots of alternatives but, frankly, our planning folks are leaning toward the 230-kV line.
"I think that forces us to use the Quartz Creek reroute and it doesn't require us to purchase additional right of way."
People may comment on the proposal by writing to: Bonneville Power Administration, Communications Office - DM-7, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, OR 97293-4428, or e-mail comment@bpa.gov.
More information can be found by visiting the Web site http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/public_affairs/comment.cfm.