WASHINGTON (April 15, 2008) - State and local public officials, renewable industry representatives and utility industry representatives testified today that the West-wide Energy Corridor Process could at best represent a missed opportunity but at worst will create yet even more conflict and damage for communities and vital resources. Witnesses testified that the federal government, led by the Department of Energy and Bureau of Land Management, failed to properly coordinate the designation process with state and local officials, consider placing the corridors near renewable sources of energy or avoid harming wildlife and protected lands.
“There has not been meaningful consultation with the states or the tribes about this process, and I’m here to tell you that there has not been meaningful consultation with counties either,” Art Goodtimes, a County Commissioner from San Miguel County, Colorado told the subcommittees. He noted that of the 159 counties to be affected by this process, only three have been granted a cooperative status. “We need a comprehensive energy plan in this country but we need more time to do this right.”
Meant to incentivize future oil, gas and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission facilities, the 3,500 feet-wide corridors designated under the West-wide process will stretch for 6,000 miles, covering nearly 3 million acres of federal, public lands in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Today’s hearing follows closely on the heels of a rushed public comment process concluded February 14 after westerners from diverse states such as Utah and California denounced the agencies for failing to conduct a proper environmental review or truly determining if corridors were needed in spots such as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah and California’s Joshua Tree National Park.
Find information and maps on where the corridors will go.
“Newly designated corridors must be ones that are needed, otherwise we will be unnecessarily carving up Western lands,” testified Tom Darin, a staff attorney who works on Energy Transmission for Western Resources Advocates. Darin felt that existing lines could be upgraded and conservation of energy could play a key role in lessening need. “Energy transmission corridors can be an appropriate use of Western lands if they help advance the region toward a forward looking energy policy fit for the 21st century,” he added of the proposed corridors avoidance of key renewable energy sources.
The West-wide Energy Corridors cross three national wildlife refuges and a national monument, but would also threaten visitors experiences and the resources of national parks, other national monuments and more than 60 current and proposed wilderness areas. The impacted areas include renowned places such as the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge on the Arizona/California border, Grand Staircase National Monument in Utah, New Mexico’s Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and Arches National Park in Utah.
“There has not been enough meaningful collaboration at the local level to identify what the impacts are, whether you’re talking about sensitive wildlife habitats or the rights of property owners who might be opposed,” testified Ms. Joanna Prukop, secretary of energy and minerals for the State of New Mexico. “I really do think this will be quite problematic once the projects are proposed down the road and there will be real opposition.”
According to Nada Culver, who has followed the process since it began early last year, the corridor process has the potential to lead to dramatic changes in the character of the places that are targeted. “The corridors can draw damaging development to areas where there might have only been a power line before,” Culver, senior counsel at The Wilderness Society, said. “The agencies have not taken the time to provide protection for places already identified for protection, such as wilderness, wildlife refuges, parks, and historical sites, or for key wildlife habitat and other local concerns. This process will amend more than 160 land-use plans and permit projects with lesser reviews, so it must be corrected before final decisions are made.”
Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) concluded the hearing, saying: “As we’ve heard in the testimony today, there is a clear need for additional consultation, planning, and analysis, and if it takes another six months to do this process right, we should take that time.”
Corridors will also be designated throughout the rest of the country, starting later this year.
See the DOE’s November 8, 2007 press release that accompanied the Draft Environmental Impact Statement which sited corridors.
