Immediate Release

Thursday, June 7, 2007 
For Information Contact

798-5800

Picente: County Organizing Bus Trips
for Rochester Hearing on Power Line Proposal

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. today announced that Oneida County is organizing bus travel for local residents who want to attend the upcoming June 12th U.S. Department of Energy hearing regarding National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor Designations.

“These designations are of the utmost importance to the future of Oneida County and all of Upstate New York,” Picente said. “This is one of our opportunities to make our case that the New York Regional Interconnect plan is a flawed project that destroys hundreds of miles of Upstate New York without providing any real long-term solution to the power issues of downstate New York . We need to make it clear here as we have at every other meeting that the federal government must not override local and state control of projects such as NYRI.”

Picente said the June 12th hearing in Rochester begins at noon. Oneida County ’s bus contingent will depart at 10 a.m. from the former Nichols Plaza on River Road in Marcy (at the intersection of Rt. 49 & Cavanaugh Rd. ).

Local residents who want to save a seat on the buses should call Picente’s office at 798-5800 or e-mail him at ce@ocgov.net.  Picente said the county hopes to have room for about 100 people to make the trip.

“Whether people wish to make their feelings known through testimony or just wish to be present as a symbol of our region’s concern for the NYRI project, I strongly urge everyone who is able to attend the hearing to join us to make it clear that our region is united in its opposition to this project,” Picente said.

Picente said area residents who want to testify at the hearing should go on line to http://www.energetics.com/NIETCpublicmeetings/index.shtml . Advance on line registration to speak at the hearing closes June 8th. Area residents who want to speak but do not sign up to do so in advance can sign up to speak on the day of the hearing. Picente said area residents may also submit detailed written comments at the meeting and/or online at http://neitc.anl.gov. Individuals with disabilities who require assistance are asked by the Department of Energy to contact Lauren Giles at lgiles@energetics.com or via phone at 410-953-6250.

“Our future is at stake, and we need to be aggressive in our opposition to NYRI and to this federal policy that would allow projects to be jammed down the throats of communities,” Picente said.