[T]he state’s agreement to let an energy developer run a major electrical transmission line through a lakefront state park has boaters concerned it will interfere with the public’s use of the neighboring bay.
The project, known as the Vermont Green Line, would run 32.5 miles of cable under Lake Champlain and come ashore at Kingsland Bay State Park in Ferrisburgh. From there it would pass underground through the town before ending at a 400-megawatt converter station in New Haven.
According to the license agreement, the developer will be granted a 30-foot-wide right of way through the park. Once the line is in commercial operation, National Grid has agreed to pay the state $500,000 for park improvements including “enhancements to the transportation infrastructure, park structures, utility systems and site restoration.”
The agreement is for 10 years, with the option of three renewals that would extend it to 40 years. It would take effect upon approval of the project by the Public Service Board.
The group Friends of Kingsland Bay, which formed in response to the development, calls the cable’s proposed route through the bay misguided. The group says its primary concern stems from federal regulations that hold boat owners liable for most damage to submarine cables as a result of anchoring or other recreational activity.
The installation of submarine cables can also lead to the creation of exclusion zones, the group says, where anchoring is prohibited.
At the height of summer, Kingsland Bay may accommodate up to 100 boats for recreational use and anchoring, according to David Andrews, president of Friends of Kingsland Bay. About 30 boats are moored there for the season, he said.
In a prefiling notice to town and regional planning commissions, National Grid said the cable would be buried 4 feet below the lake bed in areas where the water depth is less than 150 feet. Where water depth is greater than 150 feet the cable will sit on the surface of the lake bed.
Average depths in Kingsland Bay are around 25 feet, according to Roger Wallace, an electrical engineer and founding member of Friends of Kingsland Bay. However, according to Friends of Kingsland Bay, frequently used anchorage areas in the bay extend beyond the point at which the group believes National Grid will be able to drill beneath the lake bed and adequately bury the cable.
Jackie Barry, a spokesperson for National Grid, said the cable will be buried “well beneath the depth” of any anchor or mooring in the bay.
“In the unlikely event that the cable was to be damaged by a boat anchor,” she said, “boaters will not be liable.” In addition, Barry said the developer is not seeking to limit access to the bay.
“After the cable has been installed, all current uses of the bay will be able to continue,” Barry said.
On Sept. 19, members of Friends of Kingsland Bay met with representatives of National Grid and its partner Anbaric as well as the Agency of Natural Resources to express their concerns. A week later Vermont Green Line Devco and the ANR finalized the license agreement for use of the park.
Friends of Kingsland Bay has recommended that the cable pass through Hawkins Bay to the north or Porter Bay to the south, areas that receive far less recreational use.
According to Wallace, the group was unhappy with the developer’s response at the Sept. 19 meeting. Wallace said National Grid mischaracterized the impact of rerouting the cable further north and did not provide sufficient information about the current proposal.
The Agency of Natural Resources says it will address some of the group’s concerns at upcoming Public Service Board hearings.
According to Billy Coster, director of planning at the ANR, this is the third lake transmission project the state has reviewed in the last three or four years. The TDI New England cable, which received PSB approval in January, will run from Canada down much of the length of Lake Champlain and to Ludlow. Another project by the Vermont Electric Power Co. approved last year will replace several submarine cables connecting New York and Vermont near Grand Isle.
Coster said the routing of those projects did not raise the same kinds of questions regarding interference with recreational uses of the lake as the Vermont Green Line does.
“We’re taking those concerns very seriously,” Coster said, “and certainly intend to address them both through our participation in the Public Service Board and our review of the lake encroachment permit.”
The lake encroachment permit, which the developers have not yet requested, must not only address impacts to water quality and habitat values but also public use and recreation. “We don’t want to see any long-term diminishment of recreational use,” said Coster.
Once the cable comes ashore, it would pass under roads in Ferrisburgh for about 13 miles before reaching the New Haven converter station. Last week the New Haven Selectboard voted in favor of the facility. Three members of the board voted yes, and one voted “present.” Board member Doug Tolles, who has ardently opposed the project, did not attend.
National Grid has agreed to pay the town $1.4 million a year for 40 years as part of the arrangement.
The Ferrisburgh Selectboard has not yet reached an agreement with National Grid.
A negotiator representing the town said their last meeting was Sept. 27. Craig Heindel, a consultant and senior hydrogeologist with Waite-Heindel Environmental Management, is heading up a committee negotiating with the developers on behalf of the town.
At issue, he said, is making sure the town is not liable for any potential costs for road repairs that may be needed after the cable is installed. In addition, Heindel said, they are in discussion with National Grid about a capital improvement project for the town and an annual supplemental payment for road maintenance, which would be in addition to real estate taxes. Vermont Green Line must also go through a town road right of way permit process that will include a public hearing.
“I think the committee feels comfortable that negotiations so far have been in good faith,” said Heindel. “It seems likely a positive host town agreement will be reachable.”
Heindel said it was his understanding that the developers would be filing their formal application with the Public Service Board on or before Oct. 21, before an agreement is finalized with the town of Ferrisburgh.
The agreement for construction in the park can be read here:
