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 NPS Powerlines Action Alert
Susquehanna-Roseland Powerlines threaten The Delaware River and Water Gap’s scenic beauty National Park Service Public Hearings Scheduled for February 16, 17 and 18.
PSE&G and PP&L are proposing to expand their transmission powerline right-of-way across the Delaware River, through the Wild and Scenic Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and across the Appalachian Trail. The proposed powerlines include towers twice as tall as the tree line. You will be able to see these eyesores from miles away on the river, on the trail, from the swimming hole, in the car, from your hotel room – from everywhere. The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting an environmental impact study to document the impact these powerlines will have on the natural resources and on YOUR VISITOR EXPERIENCE. Your input is needed so the NPS understands how important our National Parks are to you, your children and grand children. Come to one of these meeting and let your voice be heard:
The meetings are:
February 16, 2010 from 6:00 PM – 8:30PM
Fernwood Hotel, US Route 209 North, Bushkill, PA
February 17, 2010 from 6:00PM – 8:30PM
Camp Jefferson, 81 Weldon Road, Lake Hopatcong, NJ
February 18, 2010 from 6:00PM – 8:30PM
Sheraton Parsippany Hotel, 199 Smith Rd, Parsippany, NJ
Can’t make it to the meetings? Submit your comments directly to the NPS at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?parkID=220&projectID=25147&documentId=31664 . COMMENT DEADLINE IS MARCH 5, 2010!
Ken Burns, you and I, and millions of Americans recognize that our National Parks were and are our Nation’s “Greatest Idea.” As one of the largest public open spaces remaining in the northeastern metropolitan corridor, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area provides a
broad diversity of exceptional, unique and close-to-home recreational opportunities for more than 60 million people who live within a 6-hour drive of the park. Tens of thousands of people visit this park every year.
If you have ever paddled south of Dingman’s Ferry, PA, taken a day-hike on the AT or taken a fall foliage car trip, you know that the Walpack Bend section of the river corridor is one of the most scenic in the entire watershed. THAT is where the powerline is going.
Talking Points for your consideration:
The Susquhanna-Rosland transmission line is only one of many transmission lines being proposed throughout PA, NJ, and WV and around the country to move energy from coal power plants to the best paying markets. The National Park Service should consider the cumulative impact of all of these other lines – including air quality and climate change. Not only is the power being generated from dirty power plants, but many hundreds of acres of forests will need to be cleared for the wider right-of-way, access roads and switching stations. Less trees to filter more air borne pollutants.
The impacts of building this line include more water and air pollution. Mercury from the Midwestern states enters the air and settles in the surface water in the River and its tributaries.
The impacts of constructing go far beyond the right-of-way, including the creation of new roads, fragmenting wildlife habitat and forests and giving invasive plants a greater foot-hold in our public lands.
The views seen from throughout the Park, along the River and the Appalachian Trail are priceless. PSE&G and PPL should not be allowed to degrade our “park experience” for their private gain. This will impact the view shed in the Poconos, the NJ Highlands and the Upper Delaware River. This is a Wild and Scenic river.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DWGNRA) was created to give people open space, protect water quality in the Delaware River, and provide recreational opportunities. This is a National Park, not PSE&G’s and PPL’s corporate playground.
The New Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail is one of the most historic and scenic. For more than 100 years people have hiked this portion of the trail. Construction will impact the trail directly and will ruin the views from one of the best portions of the trail.
Federal lands on the East Coast are rare. Congressional legislation was required to create the National Recreation Ares and we should respect the few federally protected lands we have.
PSE&G and PPL’s right-of-way was created when the country was just being electrified; transmission lines are no longer cutting edge technology. Investing in renewable energy distributed around regionally would be a safer and cleaner alternative.
The population of the region has boomed. There are not that many places remaining to see wildlife and to experience the kind of tranquility one has in this river valley.
PSE&G and PPL cannot just purchase land somewhere else to make up for what they are ruining in the Water Gap. There is no way to mitigate the degradation of our park experience.
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