Nearly five years after Dominion Power filed permits to build lines over the James River, the James City County Board of Supervisors has opted out of an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that maps out a plan to mitigate the project’s impact on historic sites, residents and the environment.
During a meeting Tuesday night, the board declined to sign on as a chief party in the agreement, meaning the county will have less bargaining power if a problem arises between parties involved in the project, known as the Surry-Skiffes Creek connector.
However, the county will remain a consulting party along with 17 other government agencies, nonprofits, Indian tribes and activist groups.
“Consulting parties are there to basically help us understand what we might be missing in terms of impact and the historic resources act,” said a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Patrick Bloodgood.
Supervisor John McGlennon said he was unwilling to support the proposal before its implications were made clear.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to have this memorandum of agreement,” McGlennon said before the board agreed to reject it.
Dominion Power has maintained the proposed $185 million Skiffes Creek transmission line project will be necessary for consistent and reliable electricity on the Peninsula, bringing a needed 500,000 volts of capacity to the peninsular electrical grid.
The company had previously raised the possibility of a total blackout to 150,000 customers as part of a contingency plan in an “extreme case scenario.”
The Skiffes Creek project has its fair share of opponents, who say that upgrading existing infrastructure, running new lines from a different route, or running the proposed line underground would be more suitable.
Sharee Williamson, associate general counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said the proposal would have a devastating impact on one of the most historically significant landscapes in the United States.
“The National Trust has been working with outside engineering experts, identified multiple alternatives that avoid crossing the James River, which satisfy load requirements, and can be built quickly and cost effectively,” Williamson said. “Dominion Power should change its plans and save the historic landscape of the James River at Jamestown.”
Dominion Power has made it clear they think their current plan is the best one.
“We looked at a lot of other routes, and it’s the shortest, least expensive, with the least impact from a cultural and environmental standpoint,” said Le-Ha Anderson, media relations manager at Dominion Power.
WYDaily archives were used in this story.
This story has been updated to include comment from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has been edited for clarity.
