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Gary A. Lofton |
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The Frederick County Board of Supervisors continues to oppose the construction of the proposed Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline “PATH” 765-kilovolt transmission line, which is planned to traverse northern Frederick County. For the benefit of our citizens and those affected by this proposal, we are providing a chronology of our actions to date: · December 10, 2008 – The Board of Supervisors adopts a resolution opposing the location of this line within Frederick County. · January 23, 2009 – Convened a meeting of local elected officials from affected localities in Virginia and West Virginia. This group formed a coalition to represent all of the impacted property owners in the path of PATH. (Congressman Wolf also attended this meeting.) · January 24, 2009 – Letter to the Editor in The Winchester Star asking citizens to contact State and Federal representatives to seek their help in opposing PATH. · January 27, 2009 – Letter sent to Governor Kaine requesting a meeting and outlining failures of the PATH proposal. · February 10, 2009 – Chairman Richard Shickle, Supervisor Gary Dove, and County Administrator John R. Riley, Jr. traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Senator Jim Webb to discuss concerns relative to the PATH proposal. · February 13, 2009 – Contacted Attorney General’s office to find out what role, if any, they will have in reviewing the PATH proposal. We were advised that historically they rarely participate in transmission cases. · February 24, 2009 – Second letter sent to Governor Kaine seeking a meeting so he could see first hand what would happen to the landscape if this proposal is permitted. · April 10, 2009 – Third letter sent to Governor Kaine seeking a meeting with affected residents, local elected officials, and West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to discuss possible regional approach to addressing this issue. · July 1, 2009 – Chairman Richard Shickle and County Administrator John R. Riley, Jr. attended meeting at Fairfax County Government Center with Governor Kaine and elected officials from Loudoun and Clarke Counties and affected towns. · July 9, 2009 – Frederick County provides comments to VA Department of Environmental Quality as part of the application review for the PATH project. (Frederick County was the only locality to respond to DEQ’s request for public comments. Loudoun and Clarke counties, Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, and Northern Virginia Regional Commission were also invited to comment, but did not.)· July 23, 2009 – Frederick County Board of Supervisors files Notice of Participation as Respondent in the PATH Allegheny Virginia Transmission Corporation Case No. PUE-2009-00043.
· August 4, 2009 – Chairman Richard Shickle sent a letter to the State Corporation Commission reiterating Frederick County’s opposition to the proposed PATH project and asked that this letter be made part of the public record of the SCC’s proceedings.
In addition to the above actions, the Board continues to work closely with Congressman Wolf and his staff in an effort to stop this proposal. Congressman Wolf's contact information can be found here: http://wolf.house.gov/index.html
The Board of Supervisors strongly encourages the citizens of Frederick County, particularly those directly affected by the proposed PATH transmission line, to contact your State and Federal elected officials, Governor McDonnell, and the State Corporation Commission so your voices can be heard.
In addition, we encourage you to visit our Google page, so you can remain aware of what is being done to oppose PATH. V isit us at http://groups.google.com/group/frederick-county-path.
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