"A Better Plan"

The following presentation has been created to show "A Better Plan" for the high voltage transmission lines being proposed by Rocky Mountain Power for the Tooele Valley. There are two parts on the youtube presentation created, so make sure you watch both!

http://www.youtube.com/tooelepower

Public Hearing Information

Utility Facility Review Board Schedules Hearings for Transmission Line Appeal from RMP

Hi Everyone,

The location for the public hearing has been set for the Deseret Peak County Complex Convention Center on May 11, 2010. According to the Notice given by the review board the following details apply:

The Review Board will take public comment on this matter on May 11, 2010,
from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Tooele County Convention Center, located
at the Deseret Peak Complex (2930 West Highway 112, Tooele county). In
order to insure that as many members of the community are able to be heard as
want to speak, the following limitations will be strictly enforced: (1) only
residents of Tooele County will be allowed to speak during the public comment
period; (2) each individual will be allowed to speak for only two minutes; and
(3) individuals speaking will not be allowed to merely restate what has
previously been heard by the Review Board. In lieu of attending this
meeting and speaking, citizens of Tooele County can instead e-mail comments to
the Review Board at psccal@utah.gov .

For all the details on the Hearings here is the web link. If you have any questions please email Kaye Pratt.

http://psc.utah.gov/utilities/electric/elecindx/2010/1003539indx.html

Editorial from Tooele Transcript concerning Rocky Mountain Power Lines

Here is an editorial that was found in the Tooele Transcript Bulletin about the proposed transmission lines.

http://tooeletranscript.com/view/full_story/6636195/article-Planning-commission-gave-hope-in-denying-RMP-power-line-project?

Tooele County Planning Commission Votes to Deny Rocky Mountain Power Conditional Use Permit

Here is a link for the Tooele Transcript article that was published when Rocky Mountain Power's CUP for high transmission power lines was denied by the Tooele County Planning Commission.

http://tooeletranscript.com/view/full_story/6572427/article-Planning-commission-says-no-to-RMP-route?

Tooele Transcript Article about County Commissioners Decision

Here is a link to the Tooele Transcript Bulletin article that was published when the Tooele County Commissioners voted to uphold the decision of the Tooele County Planning Commission to deny the conditional use permit (CUP) that Rocky Mountain Power had applied for.

http://tooeletranscript.com/pages/full_story/push?article-County+tells+RMP+no+again%20&id=6914323&instance=home_news_1st_right#comments_6914323

Public Utility Commission Docket for RMP project

Here is a link for the Utah Public Utility Commission Docket for the Mona to Oquirrh high voltage transmission line project that is proposed by Rocky Mountain Power. This is where RMP files actions with the utility commission and also has information of what has been done on the project.

http://www.psc.utah.gov/utilities/electric/elecindx/0903554indx.html

Tooele Concensus Letter

The following link will take you to a copy of the Tooele County/City, Grantsville City, and the concerned citizen groups concensus letter for the route for Rocky Mountain Power's high transmission lines.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/29451365/Tooele-County-Consensus-Letter

Some Pictures of 500 kv lines

Here are a couple of additional pictures portraying the size and magnitude of 500kv lines. The ones proposed across the SE bench are 345kv lines, however, history shows that once one line goes in, more and/or larger lines will follow.

Tooele County Commissioners Uphold Planning Commission Decision to Deny CUP for Power Lines

This afternoon there was a special meeting held by the Tooele County Commissioners. Their task was to entertain an appeal by Rocky Mountain Power for Conditional Use Permit 2010-1, which was denied by the Tooele County Planning Commission in March. Rocky Mountain Power's attorneys were not present due to I-80 being closed down due to the wildfire that was raging in the area. Marty Ohler explained Rocky Mountain Power's request to the Commission and then Jerry Hurst read a statement from the Commissioners.

Mr. Hurst stated that the Tooele County Commission did not err in denying the conditional use permit that was requested by Rocky Mountain Power. He continued that the government officials, local citizen groups, and RMP had sat down together and spent hours coming up with an acceptable route that would impact the least number of residents possible. From the start the southeast bench was deemed unacceptable by all entities involved except RMP. He stated he was shocked when that route appeared as the only proposed route that RMP was moving forward with. He had thought that route had been removed from RMPs proposal.

Mr. Hurst continued and listed the following items that the planning commission deemed important that had not been satisfactorily mitigated in RMPs plan. The items listed were as follows:

1. Health issues due to EMF that may contribute to increased childhood leukemia and interfere with pacemakers

2. Water Shed protection--of ground water and underground water. The herbicides used by RMP will contaminate a major water source of the residents of the county. The access road construction and use will further contaminate the county's water supply.

3. View Shed destruction

4. Increase in fire danger and the difficulty in fighting fires on the hillsides.

5. Devaluation of property values

6. Safety issues and visual interference of the Tooele High School "T"

7. Settlement Canyon Reservoir access--line placement will interfere with access to the reservoir. Water from the reservoir is used for fire suppression.

8. Access roads will destroy hill sides

9. Natural hazards to the lines in the area include earthquakes and extreme winds.

10. Negative impact on livestock grazing

11. Negative impact on wildlife and loss of their habitat

12. Crossing of a Superfund site (highly contaminated area--contaminated with lead and other items)

13. EIS not complete and there has been no record of decision on the final EIS as of yet.

Commissioner Hurst continued that the county is not opposed to the power, but to the south east bench route. He moved to uphold the Planning Commission's decision.

Commissioner Clegg mentioned that often people say, "NOT in my back yard." He stated this was in Tooele's "front yard," and was unacceptable.

The Planning Commissions denial was upheld unanimously by the three county commissioners. They also noted that the records from the Planning Commission meetings would become part of the records of this meeting.

We applaud the Tooele County Commission for their decision to uphold the Planning Commission decision to deny the CUP, but more so for them listening and responding to the citizens of Tooele County. We thank them for representing us the way we asked them to!

Tooele County Commissioners Meeting March 30, 2010

The Tooele County Commissioners will consider RMP's appeal for the Conditional Use Permit on Tuesday March 30, 2010 at 3:00 pm. The meeting will be held at 47 South Main Street on the upper level. (Jerry Hurst had a previous State meeting commitment per the Transcript front page insert 3-11-10)

This is a Special County Commission meeting day and time. The meeting is open to the public, but not for open comment. It is during work, so if you can arrange for your lunch hour etc... Please attend to show your continued support we are opposed to the South East Bench Route. At this point it is very critical we increase our numbers. The number of people in attendance at these meetings to look them in the eye always makes a big difference, not only to the Commissioners, but to RMP. We want to show them that the citizens are committed to seeing this through.

Salt Lake Tribune Article on March 1, 2010

The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story about the Tooele power line fight in its March 1, 2010, edition. If you would like to read the full story, here is the link:



The article quotes Dave Eskelson stating that "The main reason for this alignment is for the general growth of electrical service to Salt Lake and Tooele counties." This would lead one to believe that Tooele is getting power from these proposed lines which is FAR FROM THE TRUTH. The proposed transmission lines are not for power to Tooele, and the power on the lines is so "hot" that it could not be used here until another substation was constructed to "step-down" the voltage for consumer use.

The transmission lines are more like a freeway for the electricity, with no exits. The lines will only take the power in to Salt Lake County for use and the power will not be available here. Tooele County is being asked to bear all of the negative aspects of the proposed lines without any of the benefits in Rocky Mountain Power's proposal. The route proposed by the local governments and the citizen groups places the lines in a place where they could potentially provide power to areas in the county at some time in the future. The proposed lines cannot.

The article does point out that Commissioner Clegg had not heard anyone for RMP's proposal. She also stated, "I've never seen unification like this. It's unprecedented." Kudos to the Tooele County governments and citizens for unifying their voices to encourage responsible alignment of power lines in the County!

Tooele County Planning Commission Meeting

March 3, 2010 at 7:00 pm

Tooele County Building

47 South Main St. (Lower Level)

Tooele, Ut 84074

Public Hearing

RMP has filed an Application for a Conditional Use Permit to commence construction of the high voltage powerlines on the South East Bench Route

The Planning Commission will be voting to either Deny or Approve the Application at this meeting

Tooele County Planning Commission Meeting to Address Conditional Use Permit

The Tooele County Planning Commission will meet on March 3, 2010, to consider the conditional use application that Rocky Mountain Power applied for to run its high voltage transmission lines along the south and east benches of Tooele. The proposed route crosses the Settlement Canyon Reservoir, four springs which provide drinking water for the Tooele City water system, across Middle Canyon, under the "T" and then through a superfund site (for those of you who do not know what a superfund site is, it is a contaminated area that no one is allowed to develop on. The government makes super fund sites when areas are highly contaminated).

What we need to do: be in attendance at this meeting to make sure that the planning commission understands our concerns and the need to move the lines to a different location. Please plan to attend!

Pictures of Power Lines Taken Near Las Vegas, Nevada

These are photos of the power lines outside of Las Vegas that someone took this past weekend. This is a visual of what the West Side of Grantsville could look like if the RMP Substation is not moved to the Northwest location that is favored in the consensus letter.

Tooele County Planning Commission Meeting Feb. 3, 2010

The Tooele County Planning Commission meeting held on February 3, 2010, was 4 hours long. Rocky Mountain Power spent two hours presenting their side of the issue. Concerned citizens also presented their issues to the Commission. The Planning Commission voted 3-2 that they needed to table the item for 30 days to further research issues that relate to the RMP proposal. We, the citizens and leadership of Tooele County, hope that the Commission listens to our concerns and sides with those of us who will be directly affected by these power lines for years to come. We applaud the commission for realizing that the CUP application by RMP was premature and more information was needed before a decision is made.

EMF Health Issue Information

Kaye was sent a web site that contains information from a study about EMF and the health consequences. It is very interesting information and I urge you to read it!

Here is where you can find the information:

http://justchangelaw.com/uploads/CarpenterDirect:Schedules.pdf

Hello Tooele Valley and the Rest of the World!

This new blog has been created by a citizen group in Tooele, Utah, to help distribute information concerning the proposed high voltage power lines that Rocky Mountain Power wishes to run through our area. The citizen group leaders have had a hard time keeping the information flowing to all of the many concerned citizens who are showing an interest in the alignment of these power lines. We are hoping that by creating this blog we can get the information to those who need it and band together to get the lines placed where they will have the least amount of impact on our community and natural resources. Please comment with questions, information, and/or ideas that may help us reach our ultimate goal of placing these lines appropriately and responsibly. Thank you!