Virginia wind power project draws flak from across the border -- wherever that is
BARTOW, W.Va. -- As a 19-tower wind turbine project nears the construction stage in Highland County, Va., just across the state line from Pocahontas County, it faces a whirlwind of objections from both sides of the border -- including a dispute about just where the border lies.
The project also has drawn fire from Civil War battlefield preservation groups for the negative effects the wind farm would have on West Virginia's Camp Allegheny, one of the nation's most pristine battlefields, located within a mile of the project.
Built by Confederate soldiers in the summer of 1861 along a stretch of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, Camp Allegheny was the site of a battle in December of 1861 in which 1,200 troops from Georgia and Virginia fought off an attack by about 1,900 Union troops. At 4,400 feet, it was the highest Civil War battleground east of the Mississippi.
According to a description of the Civil War encampment by the Monongahela National Forest, which manages a portion of the Camp Allegheny site, the battlefield today "looks much like it did in 1861, consisting mainly of open sheep pasture."
Trenches, bunkers, and other earthworks are still clearly visible on private land now grazed by cattle, while the foundation stones and hearthstones for at least 35 cabins can be seen on the national forest's segment of the battlefield.
In a 2006 letter to Virginia's State Corporation Commission, the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program predicted that the Highland wind farm project "would have a dramatic impact on the visual setting of the Camp Allegheny battlefield, a historic property listed in the National Register of Historic Places."
In a follow-up letter sent to the SCC last week, American Battlefield Protection Program chief Paul Hawke wrote that while the former Confederate encampment and battle site "lies in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, it is no less significant and will be no less impacted than if it were located in Virginia."
Hawke recommended that a professional visual impact assessment be completed before final site plans are approved "to avoid or mitigate negative effects to the Camp Allegheny battlefield."
In December 2007, Highland New Wind Development (HNWD) received conditional approval from Virginia's State Corporation Commission to build up to 20 400-foot-tall wind turbines on Allegheny Mountain's Red Oak Knob and Tamarack Ridge.
Among the conditions set forth in the approval order was one requiring HNWD to consult with Virginia's Department of Historic Resources to identify historic sites in the vicinity of the project, and evaluate what effect the wind power development would have on them.
While the wind farm developer did initially consult with the Virginia historic agency, "it has not undertaken identification studies to the standards recommended as appropriate," wrote Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia DHR, in an Aug. 19 letter to the SCC.
Kilpatrick added that HNWD has made no apparent efforts to minimize any adverse effects to historic sites, "and has instead terminated consultation with this agency. Accordingly, we believe that the HNWD has failed to comply with either the letter or the spirit of the order."
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources consulted the West Virginia Department of Culture and History on the wind farm's impact on Camp Allegheny.
"We realize the viewshed would be affected, and it would change the character of the historic landscape," said Jacqueline Proctor, Culture and History's deputy director.
On Wednesday, the Virginia SCC ordered that a public hearing be held in Richmond Sept. 23 to address whether HNWD sufficiently evaluated the wind farm's effects on nearby historic resources.
On Thursday, Rep. Nick Rahall sent a letter to the Virginia SCC praising it for holding the public hearing and urging it to "fully investigate the issues raised by the Department of Historic Resources and the National Park Service" regarding the wind farm's impact on Camp Allegheny.
"As the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the National Historic Preservation Act, please know that I take serious any threat to a valued and noteworthy historic resource such as the Camp Allegheny Battlefield," Rahall added.
Border Dispute
While the wind farm's proximity to the battlefield has generated a share of controversy, a new wrinkle surfaced earlier this month, after Pocahontas County commissioners reviewed the final site maps for the project.
A new survey commissioned by HNWD showed a delineation of the Virginia-West Virginia border that differed from the official U.S. Geological Survey maps, according to County Commission President Martin Saffer.
"In other words, they are trying by survey to take back a small part of the State of West Virginia and give it to Virginia," said Saffer. "Individual surveyors can't do that. Any new boundary changes have to be officially recognized.
"The governor has to appoint a boundary commission to work in conjunction with representatives of the bordering state. There needs to be a legal and official dialog to determine where the line is," he said.
HNWD officials have maintained in published reports that the survey painstakingly charted the crest of Allegheny Mountain, which demarks the state boundary near the area in question, using GPS technology to connect a series of high-point readings along the ridgeline for a more precise alignment of the border.
While the new map drawn by HNWD shows that the wind turbines will all be in Virginia, the U.S. Geological Survey map shows that one and possibly two the 400-foot towers would actually be located in West Virginia, Saffer said. If those turbines were built on West Virginia soil, they would first be subject to approval by West Virginia regulatory agencies, including the Public Service Commission.
Saffer contacted West Virginia University law professor Robert Basstress, who agreed to advise the Pocahontas County Commission on what legal avenues to pursue in settling the state boundary issue.
In addition to the wind farm's potential impact on Camp Allegheny and the boundary issue, the project's effect on Pocahontas County's tourism-based economy should also be taken into account, Saffer said.
"Those towers will be 400 feet tall -- the tallest ever built in West Virginia," said Saffer, and will likely be visible for miles.
Richard Laska, whose property borders the Camp Allegheny site, relies on a pair of wind turbines to help supply the power needs for his off-the-grid home.
While he and his wife, Marcia, appreciate the value of wind power, they oppose the HNWD project because its industrial scale "will ruin the views that make Pocahontas County so attractive to visitors," he said. "These new turbines are bigger than an 18-wheeler. They will tower 400 feet above the highest hills in Virginia, right on the state line. And once the skyscraper turbines are built, no more jobs."
"Large wind turbines are being planned all along the Allegheny Front," said Marcia Laska. "Soon, any bird trying to cross will have no safe route through. It will be like trying to fly through a food processor."
"The tallest building in Marlinton is three stories," Saffer said. "This kind of architectural statement is not something we're used to."
The debate over the wind turbine project, Saffer said, "is a great opportunity for our county to discuss where our future is going. This is going to be a teaching moment, as Barack Obama would say."
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.