Enough is enough with the power lines (editorial)

When an Ohio-based utility company called Transource proposed running a high-voltage power line from Pennsylvania to Maryland, Barron Shaw noticed that it would slice through his family's 200-acre orchard, which straddles the Mason-Dixon Line near Stewartstown. 

To say he wasn't pleased is an understatement.  

The transmission line would require the utility company to obtain a 130-foot-wide easement through his property to accommodate the 135-foot-tall towers. The bases of the towers, spaced 1,000 feet apart, would cover 900 square feet each. The high-voltage lines, particularly on hot and humid days, would emit a loud buzzing noise, disturbing the bucolic peace of the orchard. 

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Mr. Shaw, whose farm, Shaw Orchards, has been in the family for seven generations, objected. 

And for good reason. 

He doesn't want those lines going through his property, particularly because the transmission line would serve no benefit to him or his neighbors. He plans to reject any offers from the utility to buy an easement through his land, which could prompt the company to seek a legal solution, obtaining the rights to the property through eminent domain. 

It's becoming a common tale in these parts. Hardly a week passes without news of a pipeline or transmission line being proposed in our corner of the world. 

Enough is enough. 

York County already does plenty to support the energy industry, what with Brunner Island, Three Mile Island, Peach Bottom, the incinerator and our system of dams. We already have high-voltage lines and pipelines crisscrossing the county. We have done more than our share to support the energy infrastructure in the mid-Atlantic region. 

PJM Interconnection, which oversees the electrical grid in Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states, says the transmission line will serve an important role in keeping electricity flowing in the region, eliminating power "bottlenecks."  

That may be so. But, as Mr. Shaw said, there is little benefit to those who are most directly affected by the line. 

Mr. Shaw makes a good case for preventing the line from bisecting his property. The farm is a destination for those who enjoy picking their own fruit. "They come for the experience as much as they do the food," Mr. Shaw said. "I'm worried that a tower power line would not work well with that experience." 

He has a valid point. 

It's not certain that Transource would seek to seize the rights to the land through eminent domain. The company says it rarely employs that tactic and prefers to work closely with landowners to seek amicable solutions.  

In this case, since Mr. Shaw plans to reject the utility company's offer, it could wind up going that route. If it does, Mr. Shaw has little recourse. If the state approves the utility's plans, then the company is empowered to employ eminent domain to get the rights. We've seen that again and again, as the private-sector was granted eminent domain rights, previously reserved for governments seeking rights-of-ways for public projects, thanks to a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded such rights. 

The company, though, has said it sometimes changes the routes of its line to avoid building on land with historical, environmental or cultural significance. 

It is easy to see that an orchard that has been in the Shaw family for 108 years could be considered culturally significant. 

So build the line somewhere else. 

We've done enough.