No power line here
To the editor: The article regardomg a proposed high voltage power line along the entire length of the Upper Delaware River (PCC April 14) presents the corporate side of the picture. The opposing viewpoint is not presented, except in a letter to the editor in the same issue. Thus the news article is neither fair nor balanced. Opposition to the proposed power line project includes practically everyone who lives, works, or plays in the Delaware Valley: shopkeepers, property owners, real estate brokers, environmentalists, bird watchers, fishing enthusiasts, canoeists They are worried about the loss of tourism; the decline of property values; the ruin of the natural beauty of the Valley; the health risks to those living and working near the power lines; the adverse effect on wildlife, especially birds that might perch on the high support towers where they will be exposed to high intensity static electromagnetic fields; and the disruption of sensitive electronic equipment in the vicinity of the lines. This is no small power project. The support towers will be at least 140 feet high and be spaced, at most, 800 feet apart. The voltage will be 400,000 to 800,000 v. The power line will be an overbearing presence in the Valley from Hancock to Port Jervis. The corporation is a new entity without experience in building or maintaining such a power line. The president, Richard Muddiman, is a Canadian and the major investors, many of whom are said to be foreign, have been kept secret. The Delaware River is protected by the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. The Act specifies various activities that are incompatible with the intent of this Law, “major electric lines” and “power generating stations among them. The number of opponents to the power line is growing rapidly. In collecting petition signatures against this project I have met no one who was in favor of the project. New York City has sources of power closer to home, many of which are clean and renewable. There is no need to bring power down from Canada. Certainly, a sensitive River Valley is last route to build a power line that would dominate the riverscape. Mort Malkin Milanville