After Public Protest, PSEG To Bury Eastport Transmission Poles

EASTPORT, NY — After months of public outcry, PSEG Long Island, the Long Island Power Authority and representatives of Eastport announced Friday that a nearly one-mile stretch of Eastport’s overhead storm-hardened transmission pole project would be placed underground — with a goal of satisfying local concerns and ending pending litigation.

PSEG Long Island will underground lines that are currently on approximately 24 storm-hardened poles in Eastport, from Sunrise Highway’s south service ramp to the Eastport substation on Montauk Highway, a release said.

The project is expected to be complete in 2020 following required permitting, procurement, engineering studies, other design and construction-related tasks, the release said.

The agreement evolved after meetings and discussions among LIPA, PSEG Long Island, New York State Senator Ken LaValle, New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine, and Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, the release said.

Together, PSEG Long Island and LIPA have and will continue to meet all legal and regulatory requirements for new construction, and focus on ensuring wide public notice on all future projects, the release added.

“PSEG Long Island is a local company that cares about our communities, and eagerly worked closely with local and state elected officials and community leaders," said Dan Eichhorn, president and chief operating officer of PSEG Long Island. "This solution upholds our commitment to provide safety, reliability and customer satisfaction while keeping costs as low as possible.”

Added Tom Falcone, chief executive officer of LIPA: “This undergrounding balances local concerns and promotes a consistent, fair standard for undergrounding electric service.”

In 2017, the LIPA Board of Trustees adopted an undergrounding policy and supplemental standards "to affirm fairness, transparency, and local decision-making for qualifying major construction projects. This policy provides communities across Long Island with consistent standards for placing transmission lines underground in the effort to enhance community character," the release said.

In June, community members planned a large rally in Eastport to protest PSEG's "monster poles" and demand that the cables be buried.

"The rally will demonstrate publicly the concerns, resolve and commitment of the local communities to have the 'Monster Poles' removed. It will show support for the Towns of Southampton and Brookhaven bringing to a successful completion the legal proceedings against PSEG LI and LIPA, which the Suffolk County Legislature recently voted to support," organizers said.

Added Roy Reynolds, EMPOA president: "By being at the protest rally, residents will show PSEG, LIPA and the rest of Albany that this is an issue that will not go away until the Monster Poles are gone."

The event was sponsored by local civic organizations including the East Moriches Property Owners Association, the Eastport Green Project, and the Moriches Bay Civic Association.

"PSEG has a pattern of planning projects that will impact communities, barely giving notice of them, skirting environmental protections, and rapidly completing projects before local officials and residents know what is happening and can respond," organizers said. "The current problem directly affects the communities of Eastport, East Moriches, Center Moriches, Riverside, Speonk and Remsenburg, but PSEG is planning projects for other areas. All Suffolk County residents should be concerned about the same thing happening to them and support the protest."

Earlier this week, legislation sponsored by Thiele and LaValle mandating formal community notice procedures on LIPA and PSEG-LI for utility transmission projects was signed by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The bill was introduced in response to controversies created by LIPA and PSEG-LI in East Hampton and Eastport by "their failure to adequately notify public officials and affected residents about pending electric transmission projects. Each project ended up in litigation. The utilities were also criticized for their failure to provide adequate notice in a recent independent audit," a release from lawmakers said. "Specifically, the bill prohibits LIPA and PSEG-LI from constructing a transmission facility until public notice has been provided. Such notice must be provided before a determination of environmental significance is made under the State Environmental Quality Review Act."

The legislation mandates that notice must be provided by first class mail to every county, town, village, or city in which the project is to be located, including both the preferred location and any alternative sites, every utility customer within 500 feet of the proposed transmission project, and to the members of the state legislature representing the areas affected by the project, the release said.

"An above-ground electric transmission project has major impacts on the environment and quality of life in our neighborhoods and communities," Thiele said. "Affected residents and their public officials have a right to be notified about such projects and to participate in a meaningful way in the decision-making process.Unfortunately, such notification and public participation has been thwarted by our utility company time and again. The result has been public outrage,controversy, and costly litigation that must be paid for by every LIPA customer. These controversies and costs can be avoided by simply being more transparent by informing all the concerned parties about the important details of a transmission project. The new law simply mandates that LIPA provide notice and basic project information to our communities and their public officials before any decisions are made."

LaValle added: "Time and again, I see projects end up in needless litigation and community upheaval. I believe that this legislation will ensure enhanced transparency through adequate community notification of impending projects and promote greater cooperation between the utility and impacted residents."

Patch courtesy file photo.