2 days ago
Conservationists try to stop PGE appeal tied to Forest Park transmission line project
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Three organizations want to block Portland General Electric's attempt to reverse the city's rejection of its .
Forest Park Conservancy, Forest Park Neighborhood Association and Bird Alliance of Oregon announced on Thursday that they had filed a motion to intervene in the utility company's appeal. PGE in late May, about a month after Portland City Council denied its proposal to axe 376 trees from five acres of Forest Park.
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The company planned to remove the trees to make way for a new quarter-mile transmission line, and to upgrade a pre-existing line, on the 5,200-acre property. While PGE has claimed the project is 'urgently needed and the least impactful' way to maintain 'reliable power,' conservationists have argued it would hinder plant and animal communities.
'We are disappointed that PGE has chosen to challenge the City Council's decision,' FPC Executive Director Scott Fogarty said in a statement. 'We will continue to stand by our responsibility to protect Forest Park under long-standing policy and to represent the voices of our community.'
The of the project earlier this year, saying it conflicts with Portland's 30-year-old plan for managing the park's natural resources. Commission co-chairs noted previous transmission line failures that have caused wildfires, although PGE has said the proposal could mitigate wildfire risks.
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Portland officials have received more than 3,000 comments in opposition to PGE's plan since January, according to the three organizations that filed the motion to intervene. A following a public hearing that same month, but FPC soon responded with an appeal of its own.
In their unanimous decision to reverse the hearings officer's approval, councilors said the utility company failed to show how the project would provide a 'material carbon reduction.'
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