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impressed by the turnout, because there were not that many people that were directly affected by the power line proposal.
Attendance at the meeting showed that many Rappahannock residents cared about protecting the scenic beauty of the county, even if the power lines were not going to be built on their own property.
“As more people escape the ugliness of America’s city and suburban areas in search of unspoiled natural beauty, Rappahannock would become more of a mecca for tourists and travelers,” Irwin wrote in an editorial for the Rappahannock News in 1971. “An unnecessary high-voltage power line would destroy an important part of Rappahannock County ‘s greatest value, indeed the world’s most important asset: our environment.”
RLEP members organized a case against Pepco, trying to convince the company that an existing transmission corridor in the county could be beefed up to meet energy needs without cutting a new path.
The corporation agreed. Pepco withdrew its application for a special-use permit to build the power line corridor in March of 1972.
After Pepco’s withdrawal, Irwin was quoted in the Rappahannock News, saying, “Their action points up the possibility that landowners can have something to say about the future of their environment. Citizens who will stick together can influence their future.”
RLEP gained wide notice for the successful campaign, and the organization’s leaders were invited to the meeting in which the Piedmont Environmental Council was formed in 1972. PEC has taken the lead in the current fight against construction of a new power line corridor
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