BPA to rethink Cedar River route; project could be delayed three years
The BPA had wanted to begin putting in the line this summer. But the public outcry has persuaded the federal agency to examine other routes, delaying the project by up to three years, project manager Lou Driessen said yesterday.
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"I think frankly they didn't realize the amount of opposition they would encounter," said Michael Clossen, executive director of Biodiversity Northwest, a Seattle environmental group that spearheaded citizen opposition to the plan.
"I think they thought they would be able to just breeze right through. They should have looked more closely at these alternatives in the first place."
Delaying the project will add to the risk of blackouts or brownouts in Seattle during the winter, Driessen said. The BPA says the 500-kilovolt transmission line is needed to bolster reliability of power transmission, particularly during peak winter demand, and to supply power to Canada as required by treaty.
The transmission line would connect with the BPA's existing Echo Lake substation in Maple Valley. It would enhance transmission both within King County and to Canada from the power grid.
Other power-line routes are also likely to prove controversial — all would be close to homes, and some would require the removal of as many as 50 houses.
Driessen said the agency still prefers the watershed route. But the cost of offsetting environmental damage as well as the opposition to the route made it sensible to look more closely at alternatives, he said.
Not building at all isn't an option, Driessen said.
Lynda V. Mapes can be reached at 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com.