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Public hearing on MATL line set for March 13 |
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Wednesday, 12 March 2008 |
By Buck Traxler, I-O Editor
 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will be holding a public hearing to hear comments on a Federal Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL) 230-Kilovolt-transmission line.
The public hearing will be held March 13, 6-9 p.m. at Norley Hall, 400 N. Virginia, Blue Sky Villa.
The proposed transmission line would cross the U.S.-Canadian border north of Cut Bank, coming from Lethbridge, Alberta, and proceed south to Great Falls.
This will be the third public hearing in Conrad on the proposed transmission line. One was held in December of 2005 and the other in March of 2007.
This project would be the first power transmission connection with Alberta and is expected to further the development of additional forms of energy, such as wind farms. The line would carry up to 200 megawatts of electric power north and south.
Currently, MATL has sold all the capacity of the line to potential wind farms.
If the project is approved there will be two types of line structures built; H-frame structures made of round laminated wood and monopoles that are metal. The H-frame pole would be about 65-feet high and a monopole about 90 feet high. Construction is anticipated to take between four and six months.
There are three alternative building plans, four if you count the one for “no action taken.” The preferred plan runs 129.9 miles with 53 miles of monopoles and 76.9 miles of H-frame poles at a construction cost estimated to be $40,619, 150.
It has been estimated that between 45 and 52 miles of the transmission line poles would be in Pondera County.
Also, depending on alternative plan chosen, if approved, the property tax benefit estimates range from a low of $1,038,970 to a high of $1,182,684 for Pondera County, making it by far the big winner in tax benefits over Cascade, Glacier and Teton counties.
Some concerns about the transmission line is the impact on farming and ranching that include spraying around the poles, possible interference with Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) guided farm equipment and interference with existing and future pivot irrigation systems.
From previous comments, a few of the other concerns from the public included impacts on flood plains, birds being killed by hitting the transmission lines, impact on human health, air soil, existing air quality, visual impacts to homes and tribal landscape and Native American religious sites to name a few.
Besides commenting on March 13, written comments may be sent to Tom Ring, Environmental Sciences Specialist, Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality, Box 20091, Helena 59620-0901, or by phone at (406) 444-6785. You may also email him at
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