TEP Proposed Powerlines Degrade Habitat, Scenery

Tucson Audubon Society
TEP Proposed Transmission Line Degrades Habitat, Wilderness
by Matt Skroch, Field Program Director, Sky Island Alliance

Tucson Audubon opposes the current preferred alternative route through scenic areas and important habitat. See also Tucson Audubon's letters to the Department of Energy and Coronado National Forest, and a proposed alternative to the power line from a group in Nogales.

Forward: Tucson Audubon has not covered this topic for two years, the time it has taken Tucson Electric Power to draft an Environmental Impact Statement. We have, however, visited the proposed routes for the powerline and continue to work towards alternatives that might protect birds and their habitat. We would like to thank Matt Skroch, Field Program Director of the Sky Island Alliance for contributing this article. To see the article in its entirety, consult the Sky Island Alliance newsletter. For more information see Vermilion Flycatcher, Volume 46, Number 1, September 2001 or visit us at the Nature Shop to review the draft EIS. Thanks. – Sonja Macys

On August 27, 2003, the Department of Energy released Tucson Electric Power’s (TEP) proposal to build a 140-foot tall powerline through one of Arizona’s most spectacular landscapes. TEP’s preferred route would run 30 miles through the heart of the Tumacacori, Atascosa, and Pajarito Mountains. Referred to as the Tumacacori Highlands, this assemblage of mountains contains the largest unprotected roadless area in southern Arizona.

The powerline—a towering series of 12 transmission wires and over 400 support structures—would continue into Mexico to a proposed power plant at Santa Ana, Sonora. Energy would then be bought and sold between the United States and Mexico, with a small contribution of power reserved for Santa Cruz County to provide back-up electricity. This Mexican plant is still in the idea stage, and TEP has presented no feasibility analysis for connecting with this phantom plant, nor any timeline for implementing such a linkage.

In August of 1999, in response to several hours of blackouts in Santa Cruz County, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) issued a mandate that a secondary source of power be delivered to the County. This mandate worked on the principle of providing a redundant, back-up source of power so that blackouts or brownouts could be minimized in future years and, in the long-term, provide primary power in response to increasing needs. The local power company began plans to construct a 115 Kilovolt (kV) powerline down the Santa Cruz Valley to comply with this mandate. This additional 115 kV line would ensure sufficient power for decades to come.

By 2000, TEP had formalized plans to build a powerline to Santa Cruz County to meet the ACC mandate of providing additional electricity. Instead of proposing a reasonably sized line through existing right of ways, TEP proposed running a much larger powerline through the Coronado National Forest with the capacity of providing power to over 1,000,000 homes. Currently there are only 40,000 people in the whole county. What we can only assume is that instead of simply providing County residents with back-up and long-term power, TEP also intends to integrate the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa into the U.S. western energy grid.

Who pays for the powerline, of which only a small percentage of use would ever be used in Santa Cruz County? The residents there do. Rates increased over 20% in August 2003. TEP justifies their powerline proposal by stating that the line would solve Santa Cruz County’s power needs and reliability problems. This may be true, but it comes with financial, environmental, and social costs to residents that far outweigh the benefits they receive.

Nobody could have picked a worse route for a new powerline. The Tumacacori Highlands are an amazing landscape loved by birders, hikers, botanists, hunters, families, and others from around the world. TEP’s preferred "Western Route" runs 30 miles through the mountainous country and cuts through the center of the largest remaining unprotected roadless area in southern Arizona (and one of the largest in the Southwest). Their proposed "Crossover Route" is equally bad. Just some of the impacts:

· The powerline would slice though the middle of a proposed Wilderness Area identified by volunteers and citizens since 1998.

· 20 miles of new roads would be bulldozed through rolling hills of oak savanna; though TEP proposes to close many of these road miles, such closures are often unsuccessful. Even when closed, road scars in these fragile arid areas take generations to recover.

· The 191 towers on the Coronado National Forest (each 140 ft. high) would reduce over 18,000 acres of wildlands from a Forest Service scenic rating of "High or Very High" to "Moderate or Low."

· The route would cross habitat for 10 federally listed Endangered or Threatened Species and 74 special status species including jaguar, Mexican spotted owls, southwestern willow flycatchers, lesser long-nosed bats, and Chiricahua leopard frog.

· 200 acres on the Coronado National Forest would be disturbed permanently or temporarily.

· The route comes within ½ mile of the existing Pajarita Wilderness Area and Gooding Research Natural Area, and a stretch of Sycamore Canyon eligible for Wild and Scenic River status.

· Powerline corridors are notorious for channeling spread of invasive weeds, disrupting wildlife movement, and providing access to illegal off-road drivers and smugglers.

While it is important to point out this powerline’s measurable environmental impacts, the subjective changes it would bring are perhaps just as relevant. No longer would visitors appreciate the unfettered views from Ruby Road or the quiet haven of upper Peck Canyon. Apache Pass—a high point between Bartolo Mountain and the larger Tumacacori spine—would be forever marred by roads and towers. Birders would look at hawks atop monopoles instead of oak trees, and hunters would scan for deer between buzzing transmission lines. A sacred, respected, beautiful landscape would be severely degraded.

Citizens and politicians are rallying against the proposed route today. Residents of Santa Cruz County and southern Pima County now recognize the lack of purpose and need for such a huge powerline. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors only asked for a 115 kV line, the Nogales City Council and Mayor are actively fighting the proposal, Congressional Representative Raul Grijalva won’t support it, and we hear grumblings from the agency officials responsible for managing the land. County citizens’ electrical rates are going through the roof. Arizona Native American tribes don’t want their ancestral homeland ruined. Where’s the real benefit?

There are better alternatives to solve Santa Cruz County’s power needs. The most obvious option is to run a smaller powerline down existing utility corridors. This would be better suited to local needs and have less impact on visual, economic, environmental, and property concerns in Santa Cruz County. A smaller powerline is cheaper, easier to build, shorter, less noticeable, and less dangerous. Existing utility corridors are already impacted, offer much easier access for maintenance needs, and would reduce construction costs. Plans have also been floated to build a small, clean burning natural gas power plant in Nogales. Locally generated power provides more reliability, more jobs, and more efficiency than long powerlines – not to mention less dependency on energy production elsewhere.

Citizens have two immediate opportunities to influence decision makers. The Department of Energy (DOE) is welcoming comments on the project proposal, which is officially called the "Tucson Electric Power Company Sahuarita-Nogales Transmission Line Draft Environmental Impact Statement." The Forest Service would also be required to amend their Land and Resource Management Plan, and is simultaneously accepting comments on aspects of the proposal that affect National Forest land. While this double-headed process may seem redundant, the DOE and Forest Service decisions work somewhat independently from each other.

DOE’s task is to determine whether a Presidential Permit is appropriate—which would give TEP permission to build this specific line through the U.S. into Mexico. The Forest Service’s task is to determine whether putting the powerline in the Tumacacori Mountains is appropriate, and whether the powerline’s impacts would be too great to justify granting a special use permit and forest plan amendment. If the DOE and Forest Service decisions were at odds with each other, TEP’s proposal would not be able to proceed. Please take the time to write both the DOE and the Forest Service. Talking points you may want to use for each are presented below. The citizens’ website www.stopthewesternroute.blogspot.com also provides more information about certain parts of the proposal, and additional arguments against the western and crossover routes.

Address letters to:
Dr. Jerry Pell
Office of Fossil Energy
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington D.C. 20585

In the memo line or first sentence mention that your comments are regarding the "Tucson Electric Power Sahuarita-Nogales Transmission line DEIS."

· The preferred Western Route is the longest, most expensive, and most environmentally damaging of all alternatives considered.

· The preferred alternative slices through a citizens’ proposed Wilderness Area and would forever scar the outstanding natural characteristics of the area.

· There is no "Need" stated for a 345 kV line by either the applicant (TEP) or agencies – because most of the energy transmitted on the line would not benefit Santa Cruz County. Why is the 345 kV, and not a smaller line, needed?

· A smaller, less obtrusive powerline, such as a 115 kV line was not considered for any route. Why not? A 115 kV line is cheaper, can more easily be buried in sensitive areas near homes, and would serve the long-term needs of Santa Cruz County.

· I do not support the Preferred Alternative because it does not serve Santa Cruz County’s interests, as originally intended under ACC order 62011. It is an unnecessary economic, environmental, and cultural burden on Southern Arizona.

· Please consider issuing a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement that properly analyzes real solutions to power needs in Santa Cruz County that include a smaller powerline or locally run power plant.

Address letters to:
Sue Kozacek
Acting Forest Supervisor
Coronado National Forest
300 W. Congress
Tucson, AZ 85701

In the memo line or first sentence mention your comments are regarding the "Tucson Electric Power Sahuarita-Nogales Transmission line DEIS and needed Forest Plan Amendments."

· The Tumacacori and Atascosa Mountains are an exceptional area for primitive recreation; the powerline is incompatible with the natural characteristics there.

· I enjoy bird watching, hiking, biking, canyoneering, hunting, picnicking, etc. in the area affected by the powerline and would be negatively affected by the construction of the powerline in the Western or Crossover Routes.

· TEP proposes to build over 20 new miles of road for the Preferred Route. The road density in the Tumacacori EMA is already above acceptable limits as set forth in the current Forest Plan. More road building, even with associated closures (often unsuccessful) would be in violation of the Forest Plan

· I urge you to deny the special use permit for the Preferred Route because it is not compatible with the current uses of the affected area.

A Forest Plan Amendment would only decrease the already dwindling supply of remote recreational experiences in the region and would impact many sensitive wildlife and plant species that are an important aspect of our southern Arizona natural heritage.