Opposing Route A

Following is a July 21 letter to David E. Schleicher, vice president for transmission, of PPL Electric Utilities, regarding the proposed “Route A” for a new transmission line through Pike County: I write to you today to let you know about the growing large scale opposition to your planned Route A in this section of Pike County. During the past week over 1,000 signs have been distributed by Luhrs Hardware and Clarion Safety Systems to the citizens of the area -- you will see them wherever you go in the region. The signs say, “NO PP&L ROUTE A” and have a prohibition symbol over a graphic of a power line. A second printing of several thousand signs will be distributed before the week is over. Following the lead of our local chamber of commerce, our county commissioners, and our concerned citizens, local businesses have also erected these signs to display their opposition to your company’s choice of Route A. The signs are only a signal of the undercurrent of growing mass opinion against Route A. You should know that there is little doubt that the vast majority of citizens in Pike County are adamantly opposed to your plans for a 500,000 Volt power line through our area. Just look at the press coverage that is occurring and you will see the damage that is happening to your image as a respectable business in Pennsylvania. Just considering placing the new power here has resulted in your company being judged as having little or no concern for the little remaining privately held wilderness lands in this region of the state. Forty years ago the Federal government took a vast amount of acreage out of private hands and, in the end, made it into a park. To take more property out of private hands and then to use it to cause great damage to the scenic beauty that sustains our local economy just adds insult to injury. It is our hope that at the end of this month, if a route has to be chosen, it will be Route B. Route B is the shortest distance, the route with the least impact on private lands, and as such, is the only logical route. Speaking for all of the property owners affected, and those living nearby, if in the end you instead choose Route A, you can be sure you will be facing a long and difficult battle in court to take possession of our land. We will not give up our health, our homes, and our scenic beauty without a fight. Geoffrey Peckham President, Clarion Safety Systems Milford