[Lapg] Decker Canyon in the Cleveland National Forest

[Perma Culture]

HI I'm a concerned Orange County citizen who is just learning about this and
trying to make sure we can rally enough support in time to help ensure the
preservation of our natural open spaces.

If you have any attention you can give to this matter today and help spread
the word and/or call, fax, or email a quick message to the California Public
Utilities Commission, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!



 Local Residents And Environmental Groups Blast Proposed Energy Project

The Talega-Escondido/Valley-Serrano 500 kV Interconnect/LEAPS Project saw no
support from local residents during a public meeting Tuesday night.

By Toni McAllister<http://lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com/users/toni-mcallister>
| Email the author<http://lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com/articles/local-residents-and-environmental-groups-blast-proposed-energy-project#>
| April 6, 2011


<http://lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com/articles/local-residents-and-environmental-groups-blast-proposed-energy-project#>


A standing-room-only crowd of several hundred residents from Lake Elsinore
and surrounding communities gathered Tuesday evening to send this strong
message to California Public Utilities Commission
<http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/>officials: A proposed hydro-electric project
would be an environmental
disaster for the area and should be stopped.

The residents congregated at Ortega High School in Lake Elsinore for a
public meeting held by CPUC officials on the Talega-Escondido/Valley-Serrano
500 kV Interconnect Project. If constructed, the project would see nearly 32
miles of overhead power lines and 138 steel lattice towers stretching from
the proposed Lake Elsinore Advanced Pump Storage Project (LEAPS) facility,
southward to SDG&E's existing 230 kV Talega-Escondido transmission line in
San Diego County, and northward to SCE's 500 kV Valley-Serrano transmission
line in Riverside County.

The electrical transmission line and towers would wind through the Cleveland
National Forest, just west of Lake Elsinore and other Southwest Riverside
cities.

The project is still in the environmental review stages, and the purpose of
Tuesday's meeting was to gather public comment.

During the meeting, Lake Elsinore Unified School District board member
Jeanie Corral condemned the project’s high environmental risks and low
returns to the community.

“You’re putting an entire ecosystem at risk,” she said. “None of the
electricity generated will give jobs to our community or give power to our
community.”

Lake Elsinore resident Chris Hyland cited questionable intentions by project
applicant The Nevada Hydro Company.

“This whole project is a scam,” she said, calling out the years of combative
back-and-forth between the company and the community.

The Nevada Hydro Company filed an application with the CPUC on October 9,
2007, to construct the TE/VS project. The LEAPS project dates back to the
late 1980s and is inextricably tied to the TE/VS proposal: Both projects
together are considered as a single proposal on the TE/VS application and
for evaluating environmental impacts.

But from the onset the project has been met with criticism from residents
and environmental groups who cite a litany of problems, including
irreparable harm to wildlife and endangered species, increased fire risk
from downed lines, decreased property values, seismic concerns, health risks
associated with overhead lines, project costs (which by some estimates
exceed $1 billion), and more.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Jonathan Evans, a staff attorney for the
Arizona-based Center for Biological
Diversity<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/>,
criticized TNHC’s proposal to build lines through sensitive forest lands.

“They’ve chosen the most environmentally destructive path possible,” he
said. “We need to tell TNHC to support clean energy alternatives.”

Gene Frick, who represents Friends of the Forest --Trabuco District and
Santa Rosa Plateau <http://www.fofandp.org/>, chastised the CPUC officials
repeatedly for not recording public comments during Tuesday's meeting.

“Why are we commenting if no one is recording what we’re saying?” he said,
calling the process and the project “unconscionable.”

Frick also criticized the portion of the project proposal that calls for dam
and reservoir construction at Decker Canyon in the Cleveland National
Forest.

“There are no public meetings scheduled in Orange County,” Frick said,
noting that if the proposed dam were to give way or spill, Orange County
residents could be in peril. “Dams do break.”

Of the dozens who spoke out during Tuesday's meeting, no one expressed
support for the project, and none of the TNHC principals came forward.

The CPUC is seeking public comments on the proposal through April 29.
According to the project schedule, the CPUC will publish an Environmental
Impact Report late this year, and public comments on the report will be
heard next spring. A final EIR is expected April 2012.

The CPUC is holding another local public meeting Wednesday April 6 from 3
p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Murrieta Community Center, 41810 Juniper St.

To request additional information, contact:

Andrew Barnsdale, CPUC Project Manager
c/o Aspen Environmental Group
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 935
San Francisco, CA 94104
Fax or Voicemail: (877) 202-2820
Email: interconnect at aspeneg.com<interconnect at aspeneg.com?Subject=TEVS%20Interconnect%20Project>
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