Dear Chair Beckett and Members of the Council:
Please accept the following comments regarding Land Use Consistency for the Cascade Renewable Transmission Project.
- EFSEC must hold new hearings in each of the three impacted counties.
- The previous round of hearings were held prematurely and in violation of the law. At the time, only a “draft” application had been filed and several members of the Siting Council had not yet been appointed.
- There is still not enough information in the project application to fully determine land use consistency.
- The developer still has not provided enough information to evaluate the Power Line’s impact on protected shoreline areas.
- EFSEC must comply with the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area Act.
- The project is prohibited because the National Scenic Area rules do not list new, large-scale utility facilities as potentially allowable in the Columbia River.
- National Scenic Area permits are needed from interstate and federal agencies whose permitting jurisdiction cannot be preempted by EFSEC.
- The project cannot proceed without a land use permit from the Gorge Commission approving the portions of the Project proposed in the Klickitat County portion of the National Scenic Area.
- The project also cannot proceed without a federal consistency determination from the U.S. Forest Service reviewing the full project.
The Columbia River is the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, and its health has already been stretched thin by energy development in the form of the dams. This novel and experimental project has the potential to change the use and function of the Columbia River forever.
Today, I ask that you take these concerns seriously and not greenlight a project that so far has failed to provide adequate information about the real impacts in the Columbia.
Sincerely,
