Historic sites on NYRI’s route some of nation’s “most endangered”

NORWICH – The historic sites within a group of power line hot spots on the East Coast – including the communities threatened by New York Regional Interconnect Inc.’s $1.6 billion project – have been listed among the nation’s most endangered.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington-based historic preservation society with 270,000 members nationwide, has included all sensitive areas within Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York state, New Jersey and Delaware on its list of the country’s “11 Most Endangered Historic Places.”

Each of the seven states, plus Ohio and Washington, D.C., are slated to become a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor – where electricity transmission projects, despite heavy opposition, could get fast-tracked around state and local authority by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in order to relieve energy congestion in metropolitan areas.

“It’s a highly significant area of historic value and scenic value; all of which is at stake,” said National Trust Program Officer and Regional Attorney Roberta Lane during a phone interview Monday, referring to the 190 miles of upstate New York that could be impacted by NYRI’s 115-foot-tall high voltage transmission line. “The regions this would impact are some of the most important in New York state – with value for the entire nation.”

According to www.evesun.com/topics/news/NYRI/">NYRI’s Article VII review application, there are 265 areas of archeological and historical significance along or within one quarter mile of its route from Oneida to Orange County. Sixty-six of those are on or eligible for the National Registry for historic places. Locally, archeological sites near the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers and downtown districts in the Villages of Earlville and Sherburne would be directly affected.

“The Trust is acknowledging that our area is rich in historic material that would be seriously compromised or destroyed by the building of power lines,” said Hubbardsville resident Chris Rossi, who is co-chair of the citizens’ group Stop NYRI. “This is a good reason to challenge or closely scrutinize both the NIETC designations and the NYRI application.”