County approves transmission line amendments
BY SUZANNE WERRE,
BHG News
After nearly two hours of testimony, questions and answers, the McLean County Planning and Zoning Board and McLean County Commission Thursday night both approved
zoning amendments that would prohibit transmission lines from being erected closer than one mile beyond the ordinary high water mark of the Missouri River, Lake
Sakakawea or Lake Audubon. The amendment also requires any new applicant for an electrical power generation plant to provide the county with written documentation
regarding, among others, its greenhouse gas and pollutant releases, its risk for black or brown out, and importantly, the impact a new power plant would have on the existing
power plant and coal mining activities in the county. Erickson also stated that if the amendments are approved, that doesn’t mean the county is completely prohibiting
possibilities of other forms of energy coming into or through the county; it means those asking would need to come before the county to ask for approval, and at that point the
county would approve or deny the request.
