Residents living near a proposed Utah Power substation site overwhelmed a public hearing Wednesday, questioning the need for the substation while requesting high-voltage power lines be buried that if it is built.
More than 100 people attended the hearing, with half as many speaking throughout the day against the substation and 80-foot power transmission lines. The lines would cross neighborhoods near 1929 E. Dimple Road (10600), where Utah Power wants to build the substation.Most speakers focused on the impact of overhead power lines on property values. They said both the aesthetics of large power poles and the perception of a link between electromagnetic fields from power lines and cancer in children decreases property values.
"The perceived fear of power lines devalues property," said Barbara B. Baker, principal owner of Challenger Schools near 10600 South and 1000 East. "I have already had several parents tell me if the power lines are built, they won't have their children attend the schools."
Testimony Wednesday marked the continuation of an administrative hearing process that is expected to run into next month. Salt Lake County Commissioners appointed former 2nd District Judge David E. Roth in November to conduct hearings after residents appealed a planning commission decision that would allow the substation to be constructed.
Sprucewood Elementary PTA President Michelle Sargent said that parents object to plans to build the overhead lines next to the school. She said that even though science hasn't proven a positive link between electromagnetic fields and childhood cancers, there are enough questions to justify not building power lines.
"I beg the government to protect us," she said.
Allison Birrenkott, representing Sandy's Crescent Community Council, read a letter supporting the position of the Master Planning for Power Committee that lines be buried. Ralph Crystal of the White City Community Council asked Roth that research be done to demonstrate the need for another power substation. If it is truly needed, he said, high-voltage power lines should be buried.
Here is a sampling other statements:
- Resident Ione Ward questioned whether Utah Power had factored the cost of maintaining overhead lines vs. underground lines.
- Based on an interview he had with a power company engineer in California, resident Scott Miles questioned Utah Power's estimate for burying lines.
- Wes Grosebeck questioned whether Utah Power is promoting enough conservation measures that would reduce the need for a substation.
- One man said that high power lines would affect birds as they fly to and from the Dimple Dell Regional Park. He said that the lines would create a barrier for birds to the park.
- Sandy City Councilman George McNeill said that given its experience with Utah Power's "bullying," the city may consider forming its own power company.
While most spoke in favor of spreading the cost of line burial to all Utah Power ratepayers, a Salt Lake woman and Millcreek man both said they objected to paying higher electric rates to offset the costs of burying the power lines in Sandy and nearby unincorporated Salt Lake County.
Louis Felice, a Millcreek resident who worked for Utah Power, said he worked for nearly 40 years around power lines and didn't have any sign of cancer.
"I am not afraid what the lines will do or of the health of children and families. . .If they want service underground, they should pay for it."
Roth has been asked to advise the commissioners on five issues in the matter, including the need for a substation, alternate locations for substations and power lines, costs of underground vs. overhead power lines, the visual effect of power lines and its impact on property values and health and safety issues.