Heinrich wants SunZia line study

Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.迷你倉M.Sept. 21--The one-time head of a U.S. military group that has cleared hundreds of alternative energy projects near bases and test areas says a scientific study may be the way to resolve a standoff between developers pursuing construction of the proposed SunZia "clean energy" transmission line and the U.S. Department of Defense.Sen. Martin Heinrich, D�.M., who has been pressing the DOD to approve the power line's proposed route through the northern extension area of White Sands Missile Range, is now formally requesting that the military commission the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory to assess the project's potential impacts on the range.And DOD officials say they may be open to the idea.Retired Air Force Col. H. David Belote says a study is needed because DOD claims that the SunZia line could interfere with military testing and evaluation have not been confirmed through any direct science-based research.The DOD has said the line could disrupt low-flying aircraft and low-altitude missile tests in the extension area -- a "call-up zone" just north of White Sands where ranchers and others are often evacuated for testing exercises. In fact, the White Sands commander, Brig. Gen. Gwen Bingham, told the Journal on Thursday that the transmission project as now proposed would reduce the extension area available for weapons testing by 30 percent.Belote, however, said DOD's Siting Clearinghouse -- the military agency dealing with SunZia -- has never engaged an independent consultant to examine the transmission line, a $1.2billion project that would transport wind and solar energy more than 500 miles from central New Mexico to Arizona.DOD established the clearinghouse in 2010 to review and rule on clean-energy proposals like SunZia that include infrastructure on or near military installations.But Belote, who helped create the Siting Clearinghouse and served as its executive director from 2010 to 2012, said DOD concerns about SunZia generally reflect the opinions of individuals connected to White Sands and other military agencies, not scientific conclusions based on rigorous, independent evaluation."Nobody ever did the aggressive science to determine if there's really a problem with the SunZia line. It's been based on people extrapolating their experience as helicopter pilots, or base managers, or test range directors, but it's never been subject to rigorous, outside analysis," Belote told the Journal ."My suggestion to everybody is, before approving or rejecting the SunZia line, that they get an independent, highly scientific study done with a simulated missile test shoot over the line to see what the impact is."A formal requestHeinrich sent a letter Thursday to Undersecretary of Defense Frank Kendall asking that the DOD assess SunZia through MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, a defense-related research and development institute that conducts high-tech studies of national security issues.The Siting Clearinghouse has used the MIT lab numerous times in the past to resolve issues related to clean-energy projects.Heinrich said Lincoln Laboratory could "look at the concerns raised by White Sands Missile Range and examine potential changes to test protocols that would allow the DOD to adapt to the presence of a new transmission line."Belote said an MIT study at White Sands could help resolve the high-stakes conflict over SunZia that has developed between the DOD and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.BLM published an environmental impact statement on SunZia last June that includes the controversial route through the northern extension area that DOD opposes.The DOD wants the BLM to make changes to the impact statement, but SunZia developers say the project will collapse if the bureau reopens the process to more debate, since Sun-Zia approval is already years behind schedule.SunZia project manager Tom Wray, however, said his group strongly supports an MIT study and has itself asked the DOD to commission one on various occasions.David Goodman, planning and environment coordinator for the BLM in New Mexico, says the bureau expects to reach a "record of decision" on the environmental impact statement in late October or early November."If a study is commissioned, it would not necessarily delay that decision," Goodman said. "But I suppose we would need to pull back and reissue a decision if we were to get new, compelling information that actually changed the analysis."Belote said MIT couldmini storagetake from two to eight months to do the study, depending on how many people work on it.DOD internal assessmentsDOD spokesman Mark Wright said DOD and the Department of the Interior, which oversees the BLM, have established a technical working group to examine defense issues related to SunZia.The group,which reviewed SunZia for two months last spring, included experts from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, and from the Institute of Defense Analyses."Each member of the (group) was allowed to express their independent views and technical opinions throughout the two-month study effort," Wright told the Journal in an email.But Belote said the group only looked at potential mitigation efforts for the proposed SunZia route, such as burying a portion of the transmission cable in the extension zone."That's not an independent assessment to see, if cables are built, whether they would interfere or not with testing that takes place there," Belote said. "I fear there are good civil engineers and policy analysts involved, but that's nothing like an MIT lab coming in to say, 'Here is the missile profile, we'll do simulations of the test parameters to analyze them with and without SunZia.'"Credibility at stakeBelote said resolving the conflict over Sun-Zia is critical to avoid undermining the DOD's future credibility when working with private developers on other clean-energy projects near defense installations. He said the DOD's Siting Clearinghouse was established specifically to avoid these types of conflicts."Industry must have the confidence that when they go to the DOD they will get responses that are backed by the best science that can be done," Belote said. "This is a critical public policy problem. Without the scientific data to flush things out, you just end up with bureaucrats from different agencies on opposite sides of the table fighting."Since the clearinghouse was created in 2010, it has managed to resolve a huge backlog of clean-energy projects awaiting approval on or near defense installations, as well expedite clearance for new ones.As of 2012, it had cleared 633 of 657 pending projects nationwide, with most of the remaining ones later resolved through further study and proposed mitigation, often with MIT assistance, according to the clearinghouse website.SunZia, however, stands out from the pack because an independent analysis has never been done and because the DOD switched gears in 2012 after the Siting Clearinghouse already tentatively had approved the BLM's proposed route for the SunZia transmission line, Belote said.DOD changed positionsThe clearinghouse board of directors did agree in a May 2011 letter to the BLM to "green light" the SunZia line if the BLM moved it farther north in the extension zone, which the bureau did.But in 2012, the military changed its position because of changing requirements for future low-altitude missile flight tests, according to DOD spokesman Wright."The full extent of the future Integrated Air and Missile Defense program testing requirement was not considered when the May 2011 letter was sent to the BLM, and as threats, requirements and the testing program have evolved, the impacts of this obstruction have become more evident," Wright told the Journal. "Despite its May 2011 input, DOD feels it was important to convey this new information to BLM for consideration in the environmental impact statement process."But the DOD could consider an independent evaluation of SunZia."DOD is open to any option that will help find a resolution to this project," Wright said.Meanwhile, the DOD and the Interior Department have been discussing potential mitigation measures to push SunZia forward, such as burying a portion of the cable or lowering the height of the transmission towers.Heinrich, who has criticized the DOD's handling of the SunZia project, said reaching a compromise is critical, not just for SunZia, but to allow clean-energy development to move forward around the country when issues arise regarding defense installations."I don't want to say there are no issues, but I absolutely believe these issues are surmountable," Heinrich said. "It's not just New Mexico interests resting on this, but interests nationwide in developing clean energy."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at .abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage