POWERLINK MEETING DRAWS PROTESTS IN ALPINE; PARENTS OPPOSE HIGH-VOLTAGE LINES NEAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

By Miriam Raftery

Megan Werland, right, worries about health effects of Powerlink on children including her 5-month old daughter, Eleanor

March 10, 2009 (Alpine) — Children and parents staged a protest rally outside the Alpine Community Center, where SDG&E held a public meeting on Sunrise Powerlink. Holding signs that read "Class 1 Fire Risk" and "Save the Cleveland National Forest", dozens of residents voiced opposition to 230-kv lines slated to run through the heart of this community. Approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in December, Powerlink is slated to include a $92 million section of undergrounded lines along a two-mile stretch of Alpine Boulevard, where Alpine Elementary School is located.

"It's terrible. Is it deep enough?" asked Megan Werland, mother of a five-month-old daughter, voicing concerns about possible health risks from electromagnetic radiation emitted by high-voltage lines.

George Barnett, a retired engineer, shares that concern. "To my knowledge, no real studies have been done on undergrounded lines," he said, adding that he once helped build overhead high-voltage lines in Indonesia."Villages under the lines had enough power to get flickering fluorescent lights, just from inducted power." Recalling disruption to local business from undergrounding fiberoptic cables, which are far smaller than power lines, he fears underground high-voltage lines will also disrupt traffic and hurt business for local merchants.

Mona Peterson owns a vineyard, winery and horses in Alpine. "Our wine just got put on shelves in Albertson's. Now they want to put a tower 150 feet from our house. What's awful is that these lines cause cancer." She also voiced concern that the power lines could cause a fire--or prevent firefighters from fighting a fire beneath the lines.

Gary Bradbury lives on Gaskill Peak, within 500 feet of the planned Powerlink towers. He fears it will be impossible or prohibitively costly to get fire insurance for residents living near the lines. "It's already difficult to get insurance in a fire area," he said. "Last year, wildfire nearly encroached in that canyon where they want to put poles."

But for parents, the greatest concern focused on the proximity of Powerlink to Alpine Elementary School, where young children spend five days a week throughout the school year.

The California Education Code ruled in 2006 that new schools be built at least 150 feet from a high voltage line's edge of right-of-way for overhead lines and 37.5 feet for underground lines, according to James Turman, project manager. Previously, a 300 foot distance from overhead lines was required and no standards were in place for underground lines. But according to SDG&E representatives, there is no requirement for power lines installed after a school is built to be placed even 37.5 feet away. Turman was unaware of how close the elementary school in Alpine is to the proposed Powerlink lines.
Asked if he is aware of any studies have been done on the effects of underground lines on human health, Turman replied, "No."

He cited a World Health Organization study which reviewed existing research on powerlines. Published in 2005, the WHO monograph found "evidence is not conclusive that there is a risk from electromagnetic radiation, whether to kids or adults," Turman noted.

SDG&E representatives Jonathan Woldermariam and James Turman

A 2004 Oxford study of 33,000 children over 35 years, however, found that the leukemia rates nearly doubled among children living within 100 meters of high-voltage lines.

Asked whether children playing, walking to school or waiting for school busses outside the Alpine elementary school might be exposed to high voltage closer than 37.5 feet, Turman was unable to provide an answer.

Asked whether SDG&E would make sure to locate its line at least 37.5 away from the elementary school here, Turman replied, "We're not required by state law to do so, though we do want to be good neighbors. How close it would be would be based on final engineering design. We don't have an answer." The utility could utilize reverse phase engineering to change direction of some fields in an effort to reduce EMF emissions by up to 70% in some places, he added.

SDG&E spokesman Jonathan Worldermariam clarified that lines through Alpine will be 230 kv, not 500 kv as some residents believed. The lines will step down from 500 to 230 kv at the Japatul substation. He also displayed a chart indicating that typical electromagnetic frequenty (EMF) values from 230 kv lines range from 19.5 milligauss (mG) at 50 feet to 7.1 mG at 100 feet, dropping to just 1.1 mG at 300 feet. By comparison, magnetic fields in a home may be higher, according to a chart provided by SDG&E. A microwave oven can produce 3 to 8 mG at 39 inches, or as much as 2,000 mG at 1.2 inches. A TV can expose viewers to 0.1 to 2 mG at a typical viewing distance of 39 inches, and up to 20 mG at 12 inches, for example.

Those exposures are intermittent, however, unlike power lines placed near homes, businesses and schools. Another potential concern is that the cumulative impact of EMF exposure from multiple sources.

What does SDG&E have to say about residents' concerns over fire danger?

Asked about fire concerns, SDG&E public relations spokesperson Jennifer Briscoe stated, "The vast majority of fires in California are human caused." True, however, Cal-Fire has determined that several of the most destructive wildfires in San Diego County were caused by power lines owned by SDG&E or its parent company, Sempra Energy. Lawsuits have been filed against the utility by state and local governments, homeowners and insurance companies.

An environmental impact report prepared by the state concluded that Powerlink would severely increase the risk of fire and that fire risks cannot be mitigated. Firefighters cannot fight fires beneath the lines and aircraft cannot drop water onto the lines unless power is first shut off by the utility company. SDG&E says it is working on fire coordination plans.

Asked if it would consider undergrounding lines in high fire-danger areas, Woldermariam noted, "Environmental impacts of undergrounds lines are significant, and as a public utility, we can't just underground lines. The PUC must be sure that ratepayers can pay to underground the lines. We can't underground near earthquake faults, and the technology to underground 500 kV lines over long distances doesn't exist; it can't be done."

Briscoe maintains that San Diego's demand for power has been increasing by 2% a year--and that other alternatives such as residential rooftop solar won't be enough to meet that demand. "You'd need solar in 700,000 homes," she said.

Those figures don't include the prospect of commercial solar, however, such as putting solar panels on shopping malls or parking garages. SDG&E has submitted a proposal to the PUC that would include a commercial solar component. But Briscoe insists that Powerlink is still needed. "We haven't had a major line built since the '80s," she concluded. "The new administration, Obama wants 3,000 miles built to improve the grid. If we want renewable, we have to have the grid to bring them in."

In Alpine, SDG&E displays showed the public images of solar and wind farms to produce renewable energy it claims Powerlink will carry. However, when a PUC commissioner asked SDG&E to guarantee that 33% of the power transmitted over Powerlink would be renewable, SDG&E refused. Supervisor Dianne Jacob, whose district includes Alpine, has also stated publicly that she asked SDG&E to assure her the line would carry renewable energy--and that the utility declined to make any such promise.

Meanwhile, activists in communities across East County are joining force. "The East County Community Action Coalition ("ECCAC") is a newly formed coalition that will provide our east county community groups and organizations a way to join forces with other groups all across our east county so that we can respond to our mutual issues with a coordinated and unified voice," an e-mail sent to East County Magazine this evening announced. "Our first agenda item is to join forces in opposition to the Sunrise Powerlink until our community issues have been addressed, including but not limited to fire mitigation, environmental issues, protection of designated scenic corridors, protection of parks and community landmarks, protection of wildlife, just to to name a few. We also support smart energy, community based solutions to addressing our region's energy needs."

ECCAC invites representatives of communities or organizations in East County to e-mail SaveElCap@yahoo.com with the subject line "ECCAC" to join the coalition and meet with other leaders and community organizers to coordinate actions--so that together we can have a voice," the e-mail stated. Individuals who are not leaders of a community group or organization, but want to be a part of the movement can email SaveElCap@yahoo.com for information on joining local groups that are part of the coalition.

For information on Powerlink from SDG&E's perspective, as well as links to documents filed with the California Public Utilities Comission, visit www.sunrisepowerlink.com.