JAMESTOWN, Va. (AP) - A new draft review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has found that a power company had no better alternative to stringing high-voltage lines across a historic stretch of Virginia’s James River.
The power lines cross a part of the river that’s near where Britain established its first permanent colony, Jamestown, in what is now the United States. Dominion Energy said the power lines are necessary to prevent rolling blackouts in cities such as Newport News.
The Corps of Engineers launched a formal Environmental Impact Statement review last year after conservation groups filed a lawsuit challenging the project’s permit from the Corps. The groups argued that the 295-foot tall powerline towers would ruin a landscape where Jamestown’s settlers landed.
The Daily Press reported Tuesday that a draft of the Corps’ impact statement said that other options provided no discernibly smaller effect on the environment. Or they were not feasible, too costly or would do more environmental damage.
The draft statement is now open for public comment. The Corps will then review those comments, respond to them and issue its final statement. The final impact statement will also be open for public comment and could be amended. Final publication is set for the summer of 2021.
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