PATH & MTR Mining
Lost Jobs and lower property values, by Dan Chiotos
Who benefits most from the coal-fired electricity produced
in West Virginia?
For more than a century, West Virginia coal miners have sacrificed their backs, lungs, and health to put food
on their families table. For more than fifty years, West Virginia communities have seen not only massive job loss, but an escalating
loss of our mountains to strip mining, more commonly known as mountaintop removal. For more than twenty years, West Virginia miners
have had their most powerful voice, the United Mine
Workers of America, broken by aggressive coal companies with Don Blankenship
& Massey Energy leading the union-busting charge. For more than ten years, West Virginians have seen the ultimate taking "the
taking of our homes" to Mountaintop Removal and the Valley Fills it creates.
Right now, the same people who have been responsible
for all of the above are pushing for a giant power line to ship electricity from the Charleston (WV) area to the Eastern Seaboard.
The Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) starts in Putnam County, WV then cuts its way across the mountains and valleys
of 17 West Virginia Communities on its way out of state.
If built, this line would be a 765-KiloVolt Transmission line. An Administrative
Law Judge for the Pennsylvania Public Service Commission has said that the proposed 550-Kilovolt Trans Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL)
would require four additional coal plants. PATH, at 765 KV, has double the transmission capacity of TrAIL and simple multiplication
dictates that there would be eight additional coal plants needed for this line. This is at a time when West Virginia is already exporting
about two-thirds of the electricity (98% of WV's electricity is coal-fired), we don't need this power line to further ship our power
out of state. If you think we've already seen too much profit for Don Blankenship & his buddies, too much union busting, and too
much mountaintop removal "you ain't seen nothing yet."
If all that above isn't enough for you this monstrous power line harms
local property values, increases harmful herbicides sprayed on the ground near the lines, and harms human health. All of this for
a line that West Virginians would end up paying for through increased electricity rates. It's clear who benefits most from coal-fired
electricity produced in West Virginia and it's not West Virginians.
Dan
Chiotos is the son of Theresa Chiotos and John Maxey.
Sandra Squires
Executive Secretary
West Virginia Public Service Commission
P.O. Box 812
Charleston, WV 25323
Dear Ms. Squires:
It
is our strong belief and understanding that the installation of high power transmission lines through the state of West Virginia is
unnecessary to serve energy to other states. Along with not bringing energy benefits to West Virginia, it actually harms our
residents. Coal is not clean energy. It is a major pollutant with harmful health effects. Extracting and burning
cheap coal as a generator for electric power puts the health of West Virginia citizens in jeopardy. Even the process of extraction
wrecks havoc on our citizens, mountains, streams and valleys.
Furthermore, tourism is a benefit to West Virginia citizens, yet
our natural resources of water, mountains and forests are continually destroyed by the choices politicians, energy and coal companies
make. There is no regard for residents, nor of our state's future. You may say that the sale of coal benefits some of
our poorer counties, but I ask at what price? Is the health of our citizens equal to the small financial benefit some receive?
Is the destruction of our environment equal to a short-term financial benefit?
In the Eastern Panhandle, is it worth destroying
farms, the health of our school children, and tourism for the convenience and wealth of Allegheny Power? The proposed lines,
which carry 750 kilovolts and create a harmful magnetic field, pass over farms, young communities, and nearby schools. The health
effect of magnetic fields is controversial to say the least, and is seriously harmful to say the most. Is it worth reversing
the current trend of population and revenue growth for the state and sucking us into never ending destruction for a quick money grab?
Lastly, coal generated energy grids is not what the USA, nor the future of the world needs or wants. Most states are moving
towards clean energy. But in West Virginia, our citizens' health and natural resources are steadily pilfered by power companies
who deliberately feed us a diet of misinformation and short term profits. Where are we being led when it comes to new
thinking and clean technology? It is a sad state of affairs when our Governor values revenue from coal and electricity over
the state and its residents.
Robert and Virginia Graf have filed to intervene in case number 09-0770-E-CN, against PATH and hope that
other citizens will do the same quickly. It is very simple to do so and costs nothing more than your time.
Virginia Lynch Graf,
D. Min.
Robert A. Graf, D. Min.
