Susquehanna Roseland Powerline (Dormant)

Editor’s note: This issue is currently dormant. We will continue monitoring the situation and may take up the issue in the future.

Overview

The Susquehanna-Roseland Transmission Lines (SR) consists of 150’ tall monopoles stretching from Susquehanna, PA to Roseland, NJ crossing over three different National Parks, including the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, The Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The route through the parks followed the route of a transmission lines that had been in existence for decades. Of course, the SR poles ranged from 2 to 3 times the height, had red flashing lights on top of the poles and required a much wider forests and ground-cover to maintain the Right-of-Way. How, you may ask, is this a success? The answer is that thanks to the huge up-swell of outrage from the public, seeing 7500 petition signatures and the well-organized environmental advocacy partners, PSE&G and PP&L, the two power company applicants, ended up compensating the National Park Service a total of $66,000,000 when it first offered only $40,000,000. The mitigation fund, among other benefits to the parks and region, permanently preserved 2,000 acres of open space.  Additionally, DRN leverage this success as a critical “story telling” of a different advocacy battle to challenge the Trump Administration in their attempt to weaken the National Environmental Protections Act (NEPA). It was directly through the lengthy and mandatory investigative NEPA process where the total and cumulative impacts of the SR project materialized.