Judge Allows Adjudication of Many Claims
A lawsuit against the Long Island Power Authority and PSEG Long Island, filed by a group of East Hampton residents who claim the installation of a high-voltage transmission line through their neighborhoods is harmful to property values and their health and safety, will move forward on several fronts, in keeping with a July 23 court decision.
The 20 plaintiffs, a number of whom are members of Long Island Businesses for Responsible Energy, filed the lawsuit in late May. They are seeking damages of up to $50 million, as well as the burial of the electric lines and removal of the poles.
Acting Supreme Court Justice Andrew G. Tarantino Jr. ruled against the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case but also dismissed several of the plaintiffs’ causes of action, reducing the number of claims that will be adjudicated.
The new power line stretches for just over six miles from a substation in East Hampton Village to another on Old Stone Highway in Amagansett. PSEG replaced standard utility poles along the route with 267 that are taller and thicker and carry the 33-kilovolt line, which runs along narrow village streets and Town Lane.
The plaintiffs claim that LIPA and PSEG failed to follow required environmental assessment procedures before undertaking the project and also failed to provide proper notice regarding pentachlorophenol, a chemical with which the new poles were treated.
Justice Tarantino agreed that the possible leaching of “penta” into the soil and air and electromagnetic emissions could be found to interfere with the property owners’ use and enjoyment of their land, ruled that they have a valid claim of trespass based on alleged contamination of the soil, and that the court could evaluate the allegation that LIPA and PSEG breached what is termed “duty of care” and caused damages to the plaintiffs.
However, the judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim that the installation amounted to a “taking” of their properties, based on an alleged inability to sell them because of their close proximity to the transmission lines. Claims of emotional distress and of fraud regarding statements on an environmental assessment form were also dismissed.
In his ruling the judge noted that a “negative declaration” under the State Environmental Quality Review Act — which effectively meant that the project had no potential for significant environmental impacts — had been issued more than a week before the environmental assessment required from the utilities was completed.
The plaintiffs are represented by Irving Like, an attorney who has been special counsel to Suffolk County on environmental, nuclear power, offshore oil, and utility rate and energy matters, and who worked to prevent the operation of the Long Island Lighting Company’s proposed nuclear plants at Shoreham and Jamesport, and by Leon Friedman, a professor of civil liberties law at Hofstra University and a former American Civil Liberties Union staff attorney.
A court conference is scheduled for Sept. 29.
Discussions between PSEG and East Hampton Village have been ongoing regarding burying the lines, with village ratepayers expected to shoulder part of the cost. The underground lines being discussed would not extend along the long stretch of roads beyond the village boundaries.