Talking Points
We are interested in your comments
The residents of Springfield Township are not anti-PPL. We recognize the need for an effective and economical means of providing energy.
We’re not opposed to PPL crossing Springfield Township. The alternative Route 309 corridor also crosses Springfield Twp., but it already has roads, telephone lines, and a PPL easement. Using a modification of the existing easement is less intrusive than tearing out a several mile long 200-foot wide swath through our Resource Protection Area.
PDF map with annotation;
How to help on page 2
The inappropriate placement
of power grids and substation in rural areas:
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Will unnecessarily defile the historic and rural character of Springfield Township, Bucks County.
The substation the will take up more than five football fields of space in a rural meadow! Part of the meadow the substation will rest on is designated wetland – a policy decision that will transform a bucolic region to one that is industrial in character.
See plans:
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Will significantly diminish property values in sight of the lines and substation, according to two independent studies. Local residents are already making plans to sell their homes and expect to lose a lot of equity in the process.
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| Diminishes and subdivides native
woodlands, habitat for endangered native plants and animal species ...
a “last frontier of Bucks County”
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Accelerates the spread of invasive
plant species, which overwhelm native plants that native animals depend on
– decreasing biodiversity.
See What's an Invasive Plant? http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant/invplants.aspx
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Could directly threaten endangered animal
species, such as the bog
turtle.
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Endangers the quality of the ground
water when pesticides are used - repeatedly for the entire life of
the transmission lines - to suppress vegetation around power lines;
raising concerns about health risks, which could further decrease
property values.
The "preferred route" is by zoning classification a Resource Protection Area. The streams that run through it and the rainwater that falls upon the rocks, runs between them and sinks into the ground serve to recharge our groundwater, not just for the surrounding homes but for homes that tap into that aquifer for water, perhaps 2 or more miles away.
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Requires maintenance activities
(application of herbicides) and
access routes to ROWs, which further degrades the rural and historic
character of the Springfield township country side. See Photos
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| Threatens more floodplains and
wetlands than alternate routes:
PPL’s chosen path crosses the most floodplain and wetlands.
The " preferred" route crosses streams that contain intact
Tohickon riparian corridors. Riparian corridors are fragmented or absent in the other
routes.
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| This grass-roots action is about concerned residents controlling their own
destiny: It is about our Quality of Life and that of our children.
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| Confusing
self-interest with the public interest: What is easiest and cheapest
for a utility company is not always in the public interest.
The most prevalent argument against the alternative routes by PPL is cost, time and inconvenience to PPL rather than avoidance of damage to natural resources and the impact on property values, and the rural and historic character of Springfield township.
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| re: ''The preferred route is the best path by far, because it affects far fewer people,'' he said. ''It is the least disruptive as to the number of people it affects and it is the least costly."
~ Paul Wirth, PPL spokesperson
It may be that the 309 or SEPTA routes are more difficult for PPL to implement, but we are not aware of any study measuring the
disruptive effects of the alternative routes on the public. For example, in a commercial/industrial area many residents may be happy to be paid for right of ways? It’s difficult to imagine the SEPT route (a railroad line) as being disruptive to residents. Easier to imagine that PPL likes the Cross-Country route because it’s easier to implement in an open space, and that they will minimize the impact on the environment and overstate the impact of alternative routes. The point is that PPL should not judge
impacts, because – as a for-profit entity – they have a conflict of interest, which is to maximize profit for shareholders.
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| Why be
concerned for endangered species?
We believe other life forms deserve our respect and protection.
Also, native plants and animals are markers for the health of our
environment. By protecting species we
are simultaneously safeguarding our environments for ourselves and
future generations. By protecting bio-diversity we improve the
general health of the planet.
Furthermore, we cannot anticipate the
benefits to the practical sciences (medicines for example) that rare
plants and animals may provide.
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| 309 and SEPTA
Routes? Considerable commercial intrusions have already
occurred in these areas. Thus, using either path to meet
energy demands will not change the character of the region, or have
a negative impact on the environment.
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| Reports of strong-arming
tactics: PPL has aggressively procured
land and
right-of-ways from property owners, portraying resistance as futile –
saying that "it's a done deal" and that not taking the
offer now will lead to “condemnation of the properties” and
less money later on.
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Conflict of interest?
PPL is a for-profit entity, and therefore is biased towards easier and less expensive solutions – understandably. This conflict of interest should preclude PPL from doing environmental, economic, or societal impact research on the effects of power lines – or from interpreting the research.
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| Rate increases? Given the large PPL customer
base, and that cost recovery (if truly needed) could be amortized
over many years, we anticipate (based on PPL sales *) that only a modest increase in rates would be needed to pay for the installation
in either alternate route, and that this effect would be
temporary - and more than offset by the protection of our land.
* "PPL Sales (year 2000): $5.6 billion" fundinguniverse.com
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Irony: "isn't it ironic that we are taxing ourselves in order to preserve our farmland and prevent rampant over-development of our town, and that is making it easier for PP&L to erect unsightly ROWs through our preserved land."
~ Ray J. (Springfield resident)
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| Property
condemnations: "to have your property condemned, the utility must first apply to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for a certificate finding the condemnation to be necessary or proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public."
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As noted, we believe that PPL confuses self interest (i.e., accommodations,
convenience) with the public interest. We don't see that PPL
has established a public necessity for
the "preferred" route, because an increase in service
capacity could be met by using one of the alternative commercial
routes, and the impact of PPL's
"preferred" route on the environment and the resident's
property values are decisively negative and permanent - not in the
public interest.
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| Concerns about
increased electricity rates for users due to higher potential
costs for PPL's "preferred" Cross Country route:
 | The Cross Country route, which passes through the center of floodplains and the Tohickon headwaters, could contribute to local and downstream
flooding
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| A modification of the existing easement for the alternative routes could be
less costly to both maintain and implement, than the Cross Country route which runs through sensitive wetlands, floodplains and woodlands.
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| The benefits of the Cross Country route cited by PPL appear to be
marginal and temporary in nature. The negative impacts and risks to natural habitats and resources with be
ongoing and potentially cumulative.
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| PPL could have a bias which overstates the costs of the alternative routes based on a prior acquisition of
a large tract of land for a substation in a rural area – an action that is reversible because the land could be sold, and other locations along the alternative routes could be purchased, perhaps for less cost.
 | Cost-benefit analyses and policy choices should also include objective data describing the
costs to ecosystems that are damaged.
For example, the need to routinely apply herbicides in ROWs to control vegetation over the
entire life of the transmission lines could undermine the quality of
ground water, which is a vital public resource – particularly in rural areas.
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| Unless the economic value of ecosystems are acknowledged in decision-making, they will implicitly be assigned a value of zero in cost-benefit analyses and policy choices will be biased against conservation, according to a report from the National Academies' Water Science and Technology Board:
Moreover, society is increasingly recognizing the myriad life support functions, the observable manifestations of ecosystem processes that ecosystems provide and without which human civilizations could not thrive (Daily, 1997; Naeem et al., 1999).
These include
| water purification,
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| recharging of groundwater,
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| nutrient recycling,
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| decomposition of wastes,
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| regulation of climate, and
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| maintenance of biodiversity.
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Derived from the physical, biological, and chemical processes at work in natural ecosystems, these functions are seldom experienced directly by users of the resource.
... Rather, it is the services provided by the ecosystems-services that create value for human users, such as flood risk reduction and water supply-together with the ecosystem goods, that are the subject of this report."
Source: VALUING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES - TOWARD BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING
Committee on Assessing and Valuing the Services of Aquatic and Related Terrestrial Ecosystems, Water Science and Technology Board, Division on Earth and Life Studies
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11139&page=1
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[3] DISCLOSURE OF EMINENT DOMAIN POWER OF ELECTRIC UTILITIES
http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/052/chapter57/subchapItoc.html |
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