FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2024
Contact:
Judith Nemes jnemes@elpc.org (773) 892-7494
Conservation Groups’ Reaction to Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Now Completed and Operational
“The Federal Court has never found this crossing through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge legal”
Statements by Jennifer Filipiak, Executive Director, Driftless Area Land Conservancy; Wendy Bloom, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Pro Bono Attorneys for Driftless Area Land Conservancy, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, and National Wildlife Refuge Association
Madison, WI. – In response to owners of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line announcing their construction project is completed and the line is now operational,
Jennifer Filipiak, Executive Director of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, said: “Despite today’s news, we are still awaiting an important decision in our lawsuit in Federal Court. We are proud to have worked with so many in our community and other committed organizations to oppose construction of this unnecessary transmission line. We remain dedicated to protecting the unique landscape of the Driftless Area and working to enhance its health and diversity.”
Wendy Bloom, Senior Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said:
“The Federal Court has never found this crossing through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge legal. The transmission line companies also acted unlawfully in entering into the land exchange they needed to move forward through the Refuge. Federal Judge William M. Conley had previously warned the companies that they were bulldozing and constructing the line through the Wildlife Refuge at their own risk. We remain hopeful the Court will rule in our favor in our lawsuit to hold the transmission line companies accountable for their unlawful conduct.”
The March 6 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin alleges that three Federal Agencies – the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Rural Utilities Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – violated federal laws by approving a land exchange that allowed the Transmission Companies to bulldoze and construct the last mile of the transmission line in a horizonal cut across the protected Refuge.
The lawsuit challenges the Federal Defendant agencies’ violations of National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The east-west transmission line will now cut across a major north-south migratory bird flyway used by hundreds of thousands of birds annually, including migratory waterfowl, such as cranes. Eagles use that important flyway as well.
ELPC, pro bono public interest attorneys, is representing the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, and National Wildlife Refuge Association in this lawsuit that is still pending.
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Why we oppose the transmission lines:
Not Needed and Outmoded
- Demand for electricity has been flat or declining in Wisconsin and adjacent states.
- Wisconsin ranks in top ten states for grid reliability.
- Our energy needs can be better met with locally-produced, cost-effective, and up-to-date 21st century alternatives that do not require massive and obtrusive transmission lines.
Exorbitant Cost — Paid by Us
- Construction alone is estimated at $500-$700 million. Other expenses raise cost to over $1 billion.
- For 40 years we will be forced to pay for this project on our electric bills, which already are among the highest in the Midwest.
- Meanwhile, ATC investors will receive a 10.2% guaranteed annual rate of return!
Serious Economic Impact
- Tourism businesses will suffer when the area loses its scenic appeal.
- Real estate values will drop by as much as 40% on and near the routes of the transmission lines.
- Property will be difficult to sell.
- Farm operations will be compromised.
Destruction of Our Environment
- The scenic beauty and serenity of our unique Driftless landscape and the character of our rural area will be radically and permanently altered by the presence of massive, industrial-style steel towers with their buzzing and popping wires.
- Native plants and wildlife will be impacted.
- Clear cutting and herbicide treatments will be used regularly to maintain a corridor under the lines measuring 150 feet wide by 125 miles long.
More About Us
Driftless Defenders is a non-partisan, all volunteer group. It began with five friends living in Dodgeville Township. Everyone along the proposed route received a letter from ATC informing them of the CHC proposal to build 170-ft tall high-voltage transmission towers across the Driftless region from Dubuque, Iowa to Middleton, Wisconsin (125 miles) via towns, farmland, nature conservancy, prairie restoration, and woodlands. These five residents sent an invitation to their neighbors to meet and discuss the situation.
To their surprise, more than 70 people from four townships gathered in a neighbor’s barn to discuss the transmission line, its economic and environmental implications, and what they could do to stop it. We named ourselves the Driftless Defenders.
From that first meeting we have grown from a tiny grassroots organization to one that reaches thousands of people dedicated to preserving the unique Driftless area and opposing the construction of unnecessary transmission lines.
Farmers, landowners, business owners, conservationists, tourists, and many others living and visiting the Driftless region, understand quite well that the construction of this high-voltage line will permanently mar a landscape that supports a thriving rural sector and a broad range of protected and endangered plant and animal species. Driftless Defenders is helping to spread the word that there is no demonstrated need for this high-capacity transmission line. There is no justification for the negative impact such a line would have on rural development, tourism, local property values, taxes, electric bills, and the environment.
Driftless Defenders is a strong proponent of meeting the energy demands of Wisconsin and its adjoining states through improvements in energy efficiency, conservation, non-transmission alternatives, and local renewables.
NOTE: Driftless Defenders is a 501(c) (4) non-profit organization. Donations to us are not tax exempt.