U.S. Court Nixes Suit Challenging 500-kV Transmission Line Through National Parks

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit filed last October by three environmental groups last year to stop construction of the Susquehanna-Roseland high-voltage transmission line between Pennsylvania and New Jersey that crosses three national parks.

Judge Richard Roberts said Aug. 30 that the decision by the U.S. National Park Service to allow construction of the 500-kV line through the parks was rationally based and that the plaintiffs have not shown it was arbitrary and capricious.

The 145-mile line will run from Berwick, Pa., near the PPL Electric Utilities’ Susquehanna nuclear plant, to Roseland, N.J.

PPL and Public Service Electric& Gas are building it. Construction has begun in areas other than the parks.

The utilities had said earlier they would begin work in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail on Sept. 3. The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 15, 2012, soon after the Park Service granted construction permission through the parks.

Mary B. Powers has reported on engineering and construction issues in the global energy and environmental sectors for more than 30 years from Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, Ala. She formerly wrote for the Platt's group of energy sector publications under McGraw Hill and S&P Global that included Inside Energy and Megawatt Daily, and was state editor for the Lexington, Ky., Herald Leader. Mary has a master’s degree in journalism from The American University.