To the editor:

Duke’s Western Carolina’s “Modernization” Project has raised a firestorm of protests in the counties affected, some of the most beautiful and well preserved historic areas of the Carolinas.

 

As a European transplant to Tryon, N.C., I am stunned that any corporation would even consider an expansion plan that involves trailing High Voltage Power Lines via 140 foot towers through pristine land, that bases its economy on horse farms and tourism!

 

Le me rephrase: I cannot believe that any corporation in today’s world would call expansion by areal high power transmission “modernization.”

 

And that brings me to the fact that we don’t talk nearly enough about the alternatives to this long outdated solution. The most obvious, and least talked about, alternative is to bury the cables underground. This is being done extensively in Europe and Asia, and with the increased use and the experience these countries have gained, the installation costs have come down considerably, and of course the maintenance costs and adverse effects on the environment are nonexistent.

 

So, what is holding Duke back from applying this simple solution to its high power transfer? What is preventing Duke from cooperating with DOT and bury the lines along the I-26 corridor from Campobello, S.C. to Asheville, N.C. It’s the most direct line, no mountains to negotiate, no farms and homesteads to cross.

 

Let’s not forget that Duke (and DOT) are in the business of serving the people and thereby their shareholders, and not the other way around. There is a lot of bad feelings in this area. We all feel we are being treated like pieces of a puzzle and not like human beings with concerns for our health and the health of our children and animals – and when did we last hear about a power line running over the property of a high power CEO?

 

Please help by doing everything in your power to stop this poorly conceived plan. Once the towers are in, we can never erase this scar on our environment, and our lives and economy will have been permanently compromised.

 

Grethe Haladyna
Tryon, N.C.