Google Earth & Susquehanna-Roseland Xmsn
February 21st, 2015
New Jersey gets a bad rap, people here in the Midwest have no clue. People think of New Jersey, and they think of Newark (which has its good points, I really enjoyed officing there during the Susquehanna-Roseland hearing) which is a mess, vacant buildings all over the place, TALL vacant buildings…
And that’s where the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is, rolling a cart full of boxes back and forth from the R.Treat (right) to the BPU (big black glass smudged building under “Aug 2012”) in the snow was a joy:
Anyway, there’s more to New Jersey than that. New Jersey where the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line crossed is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. It’s a lot like northern Minnesota, granite and pine trees, stunning. Turns out my mother spent time there in the Army, and afterwards she worked at the Franklin Hospital, I think owned by the Franklin nickle mine.
Google Earth maps are now showing the summer’s construction of the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission project, and… OH… MY… DOG…
Here are photos from Stop the Lines in 2013 of new access roads through the Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, Lake Hopatcong, NJ to build this monstrosity:
And just google that park for another perspective:
And the view from Headley’s Overlook and Lake Hopatcong:
Here’s Lake Mohawk, another example of bizarre transmission routing:
And at the heart of Stop The Lines resistence:
How’s that for a depressing photo? That’s Highview in Newton, NJ, and that’s a 500 kV AC line, TRIPLE BUNDLED (it originally was QUAD bundled, but that was over-reach beyond belief, and hey dropped it), HUGE capacity line, HUGE. Oh, and that’s the same configuration as the GNTL line. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Look how close it is, and if ice coated lines and towers meet high wind, what happens if these crumple like others we’ve seen?
Check out these solar panels, house on Marksboro Road. The one just north has a roof full too, not just that garage!
Here’s where it crosses Mt. Holly Rd. and you can see what the construction does to this field:
Here’s a view of the Picatinny Arsenal, thanks to Stop the Lines, and the tower is 215′ tall, the transmission towers through here will be ~25 feet shorter than this:
And yes, this is the transmission line that goes over the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail! Here’s on the eastern side, NJ side, of the Delaware Water Gap:
DOH! The Delaware Water Gap is one of the country’s few Wild and Scenic Rivers (like our own St. Croix River):
Just the place for transmission! Enough… transmission sucks.
One of the perks of the job and being in the neighborhood was that I got to hear Phil Woods at the Deer Head Inn, he lives right around the corner. That must have been 2009, maybe 2010. His relatives on the Charlie Parker side came in from the east, place was packed, and as Ed Berger would say, “way outside.”
Susquehanna-Roseland transmission defiling New Jersey
September 5th, 2013
Photo by Bruce A. Scruton/New Jersey Herald
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this has to be reported. There will be more bad news about transmission on the NoCapX 2020 site about that big web of transmission lines in Minnesota. Here, now, it’s about the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission through Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
People in the Midwest do not have a clue how beautiful New Jersey is. We think of Newark (actually, I liked Newark, spent time there for the hearing before Board of Public Utilities), we think of Elizabeth, Bayonne, we think of concrete, boarded up buildings, extreme poverty, desloation, and maybe Atlantic City which has problems of its own, and while that’s all a part of New Jersey, we need to be aware of not just Newark but of Newton… of Sparta, of Stillwater, New Jersey, which is quite similar to Stillwater, Minnesota. Get acquainted with the rolling hills, farm fields, the pines and granite of northwestern New Jersey.
Special thanks to Dave Slaperud of Stop the Lines and Scott Olson and his Route B Info list for keeping the world informed.
What’s the Susquehanna-Roseland line? Once more with feeling, that sinking feeling…
This post by Bill Wolfe has some beautiful and disturbing photos, the beautiful New Jersey countryside they’re tearing up as we speak:
Lisa Chammings, of Stillwater, New Jersey, has a hayfield that they’re ripping up, despite promises that she could mow the hay underneath. It’s been raining, everything’s wet, no way to get hay, and, well, see that NJ Herald photo above? That’s her hay field that they’re in!
The transmission towers will be about twice as high, it’s going to be a TRI-BUNDLED 500 kV transmission line. WOW.
The Delaware Water Gap is under siege right now, and will no longer look like this:
Here’s what they’re doing there, running a line between Pennsylvania and New Jersey:
National Park Service sold us all out for $60 million, and is allowing the transmission line to go through. Thanks. Let’s hear it for the public interest.
The Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line is one that President Obama ordered fast-tracked, as if it wasn’t moving along fast enough:
Obama “fast tracks” transmission?!?!?!
Obama’s Transmission BS in the News
What does Obama’s Xmsn push mean?
Susquehanna-Roseland update – lawsuit v. NPS !!!!
October 15th, 2012
The Delaware Water Gap is one of the few National Park Service Wild and Scenic Rivers, and it’s in a struggle to stay that way. I represented Stop the Lines before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities administrative proceeding, which ended with a permit issued to PSEG. Boooo-hisssss.
TODAY, a lawsuit was filed by National Parks Conservation Assoc., Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, New Jersey Highlands Coalition, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Rock the Earth, Sierra Club, Stop the Lines versus Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior and head of National Park Service, and Dennis Reidenbach as Northeast Regional Director of National Park Service:
Complaint – National Parks Conservation Assoc., et al. v. Salazar & Reidenbach
GOOD! Serves them right, after caving to Obama’s transmission fast-tracking!
So what’s the scoop? PSEG and PPL have targeted the Delaware Water Gap for a crossing of its Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line. Here’s the NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PAGE for the project.
Here’s the full map:
Which is a small part of the bigger picture, part of line #1 on this Project Mountaineer, the transmission for coal scenario hatched at a top secret FERC meeting in 2005:
The alternatives evaluated by the National Park Service’s Delaware Water Gap in their EIS looks like this (click on map for larger version):
Here’s the link to the National Park Service’s Final EIS. Inexplicably, National Park Service went from identifying the “no action alternative” as the Environmentally Preferred Alternative, to a (rolling over) “STICK IT HERE!” Oh, and a payoff of $30-40 million. And then there’s “pre-approval” of the project by NPS…
Stay tuned!
National Park Service: “No Action Alternative” for Susquehanna-Roseland transmission
November 21st, 2011
Yes, it’s true, the cow is out of the barn – and the National Park Service says that the “No Action Alternative” is the best alternative for the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line. Can you hear PSEG and PPL squealing???
Big thanks to Scott Olson for the heads up, and this link:
The bottom line, from page 16 of the pdf below, page vii of the actual document:
ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE
The environmentally preferred alternative is the alternative that would promote the requirements of the
national environmental policy expressed in section 101(b) of NEPA. It is the alternative that causes the
least damage to the biological and physical environment and that best protects, preserves, and enhances historic, cultural, and natural resources (CEQ 1981, Q6a). Alternative 1, the no-action alternative, was selected as the environmentally preferred alternative by the NPS. This decision was based on the available scientific data about the proposal and mitigation measures presented by the applicant and collected by NPS. An analysis of this data made it clear that alternative 1 best meets the requirements of the environmentally preferred alternative.
Really, that’s what it says… wow… I’ve never seen that before in a DEIS. You can see for yourself here, again, p. 16 of the pdf, page vii of the actual document:
SRLine DEIS Volume 1, Front Matter, Chapters 1 and 2 (8.2 MB, PDF file)
Here’s the NPS page with the whole thing:
Comments are due by 11:59 p.m. January 31, 2012:
National Park Service Susquehanna to Roseland 500 kV Transmission Line Right of Way and Special Use Permit Draft Environmental Impact StatementFrom the site, there are three public “meetings” scheduled where you can make comments in person:
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
(snow date 1/31)
Fernwood Hotel and Resort
U.S. 209 Bushkill, PA 18324Wednesday, January 25, 2012
(snow date 2/1)
Stroudsmoor Country Inn – Ridgecrest
RD#4 Stroudsmoor Road Stroudsburg, PA 18360Thursday, January 26, 2012
(snow date 2/2)
Farmstead Golf and Country Club
88 Lawrence Road
Lafayette, NJ 07848
Comments are due by 11:59 p.m. January 31, 2012. If you are unable to attend the public meetings, please submit your comments by January 31, 2012 via the internet at http:// parkplanning.nps.gov/DEWA or by mail to address below (there are two addresses below – best send to BOTH!):
John J. Donahue, Superintendent
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area &
Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River
HQ River Road, off Rt. 209 Bushkill, PA 18324and
Pamela Underhill, Superintendent
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
P.O. Box 50 Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Or by filing it at this site:
Comments are due by 11:59 p.m. January 31, 2012
NPS pressured about Susquehanna-Roseland EIS
July 21st, 2011
First, the bad news – the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has affirmed the Order of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission approving the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission project:
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania – Affirms Pennsylvania’s S-R Order
And now, on to the pressure… The National Park Service is working to do it’s job as steward of our national park land, in this case, the federally declared Wild and Scenic Delaware River and the Delaware Water Gap.
Seems that some don’t think they should be allowed to do that job, and are pressuring them to “hurry up” so the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line can steamroll on through. Well, BACK OFF!
Today the pressure on NPS was overt in two venues. First, U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) amends a bill to push the NPS to complete its environmental review one year ahead of schedule. Say what?!?!?!
Then in my inbox a sour grapes press release from FERC Commissioner Phillip Moeller whining because the newly adopted rule won’t do what he wants, it won’t address “problems” like NPS doing its proper review of transmission projects:
Here’s the Susquehanna-Roseland specific part:
“While I offer substantial praise for today’s final rule, the Commission should have taken a different approach to several important issues. We must recognize that all of the nation’s difficulties in building needed transmission will not be resolved by this rule. Rather, this rule largely addresses planning for long-distance transmission lines, which is only a subset of the critical issues that are inhibiting needed investment.
This rule cannot address issues like the delays caused by other federal agencies in the siting of important projects, as this Commission lacks the legal authority to require other federal agencies to act. For example, see the comments of PJM in this proceeding at p. 17, which state that:
[t]he PJM Board approved the Susquehanna-Roseland 500 kV line in 2007. The Susquehanna-Roseland line was approved by the state regulatory commissions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for 2012. The line is currently delayed by the National Parks Service [sic] and is not expected to be in service until 2014 at the earliest.
Ohhhhhhhh, isn’t it too bad. He’s just one Commissioner, and he’s got to put his dissent out there as an extensive and extended rulemaking proceeding closes… Why is he pushing, why does he care, and why does his care rise to the level that he sends out a dissenting press release? Lighten up, the National Park Service has a job to do. As the testimony in the Susquehanna-Roseland proceeding before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities reflects, we are NOT going to freeze in the dark in an incubator without a job…
And here’s Pre. Charlie Dent’s whine:
Charlie Dent pushes expedited federal review of Susquehanna-Roseland power line proposal
Published: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 4:30 AM
By Tom Rowan Jr. | The Express-TimesAnd the New Jersey Sierra Club wants Dent, R-Lehigh Valley, to back off.
If it passes through the House, it would be referred to the Senate.