Image Credit: Preserve Cheatham County (Cheatham County TVA Generation Site) / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The Biden-Harris Administration has sued Tennessee homeowners as part of a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) land grab unfolding in Cheatham County.
James and Jodi Bloodgood, and their neighbors, Heather and Philip Harant refused to grant access to TVA to survey their land for a transmission line that the federally-owned electric utility corporation may potentially build for a new methane gas plant. The Bloodgoods and the Harants filed legal objections, but TVA conducted the survey anyway.
Should the plant be built, the site of the transmission line would mean an easement being cut into a wooded area, a 100-feet wide, impacting wildlife and creating noise in what is currently a serene neighborhood.
Cofounder of the group Preserve Cheatham County and member of the community Tracy O’Neill told Fox 17 that the paperwork provided to homeowners stated that they had twenty-one days to respond to TVA, a timeframe that was violated as TVA surveyed the land in question before the objections of the homeowners could even be heard.
U.S. District Judge Aleta Traugher from the Nashville Division of the United States Middle Tennessee District Court issued orders of possession in September allowing the survey despite the objections of the landowners. This allowed TVA to conduct surveys, and do core drilling, environmental studies, appraisals, title investigations and other activities related to the “acquisition of an easement and right-of-way for the erection, operation, and maintenance of electric power transmission circuits and communication circuits.”
Under the power of eminent domain, the “just compensation to the owners” for this temporary property right was determined to be a measly $10.
For a project that has yet to be approved, and will require an environmental review process, Jodi Bloodgood finds the actions of TVA to be heavy-handed, and says that they have been very persistent in their efforts to intimidate homeowners which include coming onto personal property, leaving notifications, serving papers, and contact both by phone and by mail.
Heather Harant says that if the transmission line becomes reality, she will lose approximately one-fifth of her property, and its value will likely decline due to what she says will be an “eyesore” where mature virgin forest now stands.
TVA bought the 285-acre tract of land along Lockertsville Road, north of Ashland City, from Elias H. Attea Jr. and his wife Karen M. Attea four years ago for $1.4 million. At that time, TVA claimed to have no specific plans for the property.
At a public briefing held in Ashland City back in February, nearly 500 residents made sure to let TVA know they were not welcome in their backyard.
After TVA Regional Relations (North) Regional Vice-President Justin C. Maierhofer told attendees that TVA has no desire to go where they are not welcomed, Preserve Cheatham County group administrator Stephanie Henry asked for a show of hands from those who opposed the Cheatham Generation Site. Almost every hand went up.
Henry, who wore a T-shirt that read, “Take Your Pipe and Shove It,” said, “There’s your answer. You’re not welcome.” But community feelings have seemingly not deterred TVA since.
A subsequent public meeting gave members of the public a chance to address TVA officials, the majority of whom spoke against the project citing concerns with the lack of transparency on behalf of TVA, potential dangers from methane, the loss of generational farms, possible decline in property values, and negative effects to wildlife and the water supply in the area.
As a federally-owned utility, TVA does not have to observe county zoning laws which allows their purchase of what was zoned for agricultural use to be used for industrial purposes despite the proximity to a neighborhood.
A TVA spokesperson has said that the site is being considered due to the increased growth in Middle Tennessee and with the knowledge that a second Cumberland coal unit is scheduled to be retired by the end of 2028.
Resolutions opposing the generation site have been passed by the Cheatham County Commission, and the city governments of Ashland City, Kingston Springs, Pegram and Pleasant View.
Last night, Cheatham County Commissioners received a copy of a transportation study conducted by TVA outlining how equipment would be transported to the site.
Of the three options, even the one recommended by the study’s author would require major improvements to area roads due to turn radius issues and encroach on private property, requiring approval from landowners and the county.
You can read more about TVA’s plans for the site here.
For more information about Preserve Cheatham County’s efforts to oppose the project, visit www.PreserveCheathamCounty.org/
The group will host their first annual Cheatham County Sasquatch Festival on October 26th to save the “beloved Sycamore Sasquatch” from the clutches of TVA’s “progress.”
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
It says > ” TVA bought the 285-acre tract of land along Lockertsville Road, north of Ashland City, from Elias H. Attea Jr. and his wife Karen M. Attea four years ago for $1.4 million. At that time, TVA claimed to have no specific plans for the property.”
Without eminent domain, we wouldn’t have any roads. No one would be able to go any where. And yes, we need electricity. They will get the land appraised and the owners can file an appeal if they’re unhappy.
True, we do need energy. And yes, eminent domain has been used in the past. But the TVA has been far less than transparent about the nature and scope of this project; the recently-released road and transportation study mentioned above revealed that, if this project goes forward, there will have to be massive changes to rural roadways and bridge infrastructure. This would require property owners along the route, as well, to permanently sacrifice their land.
TVA has not provided any cost-benefit analysis or other detailed justification for choosing this site – a ‘greenfield’ location that up to now has only been appropriate for farmland, recreational areas and residences. (And farmland in Tennessee, as one study recently revealed, is increasingly in short supply).
Eminent domain WILL be used, as the story highlights, not only for the transmission lines, but the gas pipeline, as well. And the pipeline company, Kinder Morgan (KMI), is owned by several major institutional investors like Blackrock, which have significant interests in property acquisition and management.
Building this plant and pipeline all but guarantees a ‘domino’ effect that will cause the industrialization of Cheatham County, turning fertile, productive agricultural land into industrial parks, against the will of its residents – American citizens – who wish to maintain the rural, agricultural character of the place where they live.