One of the things the Curmudgeon looks for in the news is irony. Like Cape Cod residents, whose homes will be flooded by rising seas or destroyed by storms caused by global warming, objecting to having a wind-energy farm put, in of all places, within their view. They deserve their fate.
We were taken by this one over the weekend: the D.C. area developer who transformed Tyson's Corner from wooded farmland into a poorly designed sprawling energy-gobbling mini-city, is so upset about Dominion Power's plan to build a new high-voltage power line near his own Northern Virginia estate that he has sued to divert the line.
John Hazel Jr. made his fortune developing Tysons Corner, taking the usual developer's shortcuts that, inevitably, lead to trouble down the road, or more aptly here, in the road. Today, Tysons is a traffic clogged mess, and it doesn't take a genius to see why--haphazard planning of a road system with major chokepoints and no access to mass transportation.
Now, Mr. Hazel owns 4000 acres of farmland in Faquier County that just happens to be in the path of one of the routes proposed by Dominion for a new $1.3 billion high voltage power line (Dominion will pony up $300 million for its 50-mile share of the new line) needed to keep Northern Virginia properly juiced over the next decade or so.
Of course, it's projects like those developed by Mr. Hazel that are creating the huge demand that in turn requires Dominion to build new lines.
One of the things Dominion has tried to do in routing the new line is to avoid property that has been conserved. Hazel's lawsuit seeks to force Dominion to cross through conserved properties.
While we think this debate is more complicated than just whether to despoil conserved properties (many of such properties, including some owned by Hazel, are merely subject to "conservation easements;" for now, they're still privately owned--and getting nice tax breaks from the state), we're simply not sympathetic to poor Mr. Hazel's plight.
Indeed, we say, "reap what you sow" Mr. Hazel. Dominion should do one better than stringing its new line near Hazel's property--it should put it right down the middle of his property, with a tower over his house.
1 comment:
This article has been poorly researched and completly false in some of its statments. The author gives no credit where due and leaves out some very important information. If Mr. X Curmudgeon had done his research he would see that the Hazel family is not opposed to the power lines running on his property, but rather have the lines ran on the part of his property that is under easments but located next to I-66, which is land that is already scared. Also most land that runs along I-66 is under easments, butit would also benifit Dominion for it is a shorter distance for their lines to span.
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