Potential Environmental Effects of 765-KV Transmission Lines: Views Before the New York State Public Service Commission, Cases 26529 and 26559, 1976-1978

摘要

Testimony given before the New York Public Service Commission in two recent cases on the potential environmental effects of 765-kV overhead ac transmission lines is reviewed. The testimony focused on the potential effects of audible noise, on the potential biological effects of the electromagnetic fields, on the potential for electric shocks to people who touch vehicles parked under the proposed lines, on the potential effects of the electromagnetic fields on electronic cardiac pacemakers, and on potential effects of ozone produced by corona discharge from the lines. The testimony fully explored these questions; however, it did not resolve all of them. The testimony indicates potential impacts from the audible noise and from the electrostatic shocks that people can receive when they touch a large vehicle parked under the lines. The testimony also indicates that certain cardiac pacemaker and lead combinations may, under certain circumstances, undergo reversion to a fixed rate of pacing in the presence of the fields under the lines, but that little risk to cardiac patients results except possibly for those patients for whom competition between the heart's own rate and the pacemaker rate presents a health risk. The testimony fails to demonstrate biological hazards from the field; further research is necessary to understand better the effects of the fields on biological systems. The testimony indicates that ozone produced by the lines will not significantly affect the environment. (ERA citation 05:005703)