[pct-l] California Parks Chief Critical of SDGE Plan for Line Through Park

[kenandeb at sover.net]

A plan by San Diego Gas & Electric to run a 150-mile power line across 23
miles of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California has drawn
criticism from California State Parks Director Ruth Coleman, the Los
Angeles Times reported today. Coleman has written to the California PUC
that the proposal sets "a dangerous precedent that would mean that state
park lands 
 are merely held 
 until such time as they may be needed by
private developers or utility companies."

Wrote the Times: "Coleman concluded that the utility had favored the
cheapest, quickest route through state public lands rather than examining
environmentally superior alternatives outside the park."

SDGE spokeswoman Christy Heiser said the $1.3-billion project was
necessary and the Times wrote that she said "the utility had no choice but
to run the lines through state land." Heiser was quoted as saying: "In
order to go west 
 and bring in this line, there's basically two miles
between the Mexican border and the Riverside County line that is not a
state park. Essentially, that is our only option."
Los Angeles Times , Sept. 7.