By Ed Jones
There have been power lines crossing Forest Park from its earliest days. Both PGE and BPA have easements allowing their towers and lines in the Park. In Linnton there are lines that cross the river just north of Linnton at Harborton, climb into the Park and then run west to Hillsboro and north to the former Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. PGE wants to upgrade those lines and has asked Portland to approve the first step in their plan to do so.
PGE claims the construction is needed to ensure the region has reliable power, that it needs to be done immediately, that it won’t result in all that many acres of trees being cut down, and that they will mitigate the damage done by new plantings. All these claims are disputed by various neighborhood and environmental groups.
The LNA has passed a resolution opposing the project and a second resolution calling for 50 years of independent monitoring of any mitigation plan if the project is approved.
Photo credit: City of Portland
The first resolution was passed at the May 2024 meeting. In it the LNA resolved that it opposes plans by PGE to increase their footprint within their existing easement in Forest Park on the grounds that the proposed work is unnecessary and inconsistent with the city’s park and environmental policies.
In the second resolution, passed at the November meeting, the LNA voted to support efforts to require specific acts of mitigation by PGE as a condition of the approval of the project.
The LNA wants the city to require PGE to engage in:
• Sustained efforts to deal with invasive species within and near the project site.
• Sustained efforts to maintain the fire lanes within and near the project site.
• Sustained efforts to ensure that replacement plantings do thrive in and near the project site.
• Sustained efforts to support the Northern Red-Legged Frogs and their habitat in and near the project site, including financial support for installing ponds in Forest Park.
• Sustained efforts to monitor the impact of the project on animal and plant life in and near the project site.
• To ensure sustained efforts the LNA recommends PGE be required to fund 50 years of independent monitoring and yearly reports on the project’s impact on the ecosystem of the Park.
PGE’s request for permission to build has been submitted to the city and is being reviewed by city staff. By the time you are reading this article there will have been a City staff recommendation to approve or deny the permit and a public hearing on the permit. The LNA will send out an email about the recommendation, the hearing, and the deadline for any comments.
There is likely to be a city council vote on it as well, but that won’t happen until after our February membership meeting.
For a good summary of the issues about the danger to the Park please look at the following from the Forest Park Conservancy: https://tinyurl.com/y2eu22nt
Here is a Dec. 13, 2024 Oregonian story on the issue – https://tinyurl.com/5f49fzft