With 400 years of American history at risk, parks group urges Army Corps to complete thorough assessment of project’s impacts to keep damaging project out of Jamestown.
Jamestown, VA – Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the necessary permit to allow Dominion Virginia Power to proceed with a highly controversial plan to build 17 obstructive transmission towers, some as tall as 295 feet, across the James River at historic Jamestown. The project would degrade historic Jamestown, Colonial National Historical Park, Colonial Parkway and the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and harm threatened and endangered species including the Atlantic sturgeon. This obstructive power line would also jeopardize the area’s $1 billion annual travel and tourism industry, which supports local jobs and generates tax revenues that benefit the region and state.
The permit was granted without first conducting a thorough review of reasonable alternatives that would fulfill the region’s energy needs while protecting historic Jamestown. The Army Corps also failed to conduct a transparent public process and comment period under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of National Parks Conservation Association, issued the following statement in response:
“It is extremely disappointing that the Army Corps has agreed to let this destructive project move forward. These transmission towers, many the size of the Statue of Liberty, would deface a landscape that has stood for 400 years.
“Reasonable alternatives exist to meet the region’s energy needs without sacrificing the integrity of four national park sites in the process.
“There is only one Jamestown, and once development of this magnitude begins, there is no undoing its impacts. We cannot stand by and let that happen. We will continue to fight to protect historic Jamestown and are considering all options, including legal action.”
More information about the years-long campaign to protect historic Jamestown is available here.
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