PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Autry Warren, senior director of transmission and municipal relations for Oncor Electric Delivery, answers questions at a public forum on Saturday about possible Lampasas County routes for electric lines that will carry wind-generated power. Although Oncor Electric Delivery has not selected final routes for electric transmission lines the company will install in Lampasas County, some landowners here and in neighboring counties are preparing to fight line paths they believe will harm property values and the environment.

Oncor has until Oct. 7 to complete environmental studies and submit to the Public Utility Commission of Texas an application with a preferred route and several alternate paths as part of the company's Brown-to-Newton project.

One of several "priority projects" that will transmit wind-generated power from West Texas to load centers in the central and eastern parts of the state, the lines through Lampasas County will connect a Brown County switching station with the proposed Newton switching station to be located near the western edge of Kempner. The Brown-to-Newton work is part of a Competitive Renewable Energy Zone created to fulfill requirements set by the Texas Legislature that the state increase its use of energy derived from sources other than fossil fuels.

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Lampasas County resident Diana Fisch explains her concerns about 345-kilovolt electric transmission lines that may pass through Lampasas County as Manuel Flores, back right, and Allen Nye take notes on behalf of Oncor Electric Delivery. Oncor representatives met with a full-capacity -- and often boisterous -- audience Saturday evening in the Lampasas County Office Building conference room. Several landowners urged the company either to reroute lines away from homes and ranches or to change the planned construction techniques in an effort to minimize environmental effects.

Diana Fisch, a resident of County Road 2001 who helped organize the Saturday meeting, said the installation of 345-kilovolt lines would damage wildlife habitat, interfere with Lampasas County's natural beauty, cause homeowners to hear a constant humming noise from the 120- to 150-foot-tall lattice tower structures and decrease property values.

Mrs. Fisch also cited concerns about the electromagnetic fields put off by electric transmission struc- tures, although she said no longterm epidemiological studies have been performed to determine if a relationship exists between EMFs and diseases such as leukemia.

Lampasas physician Lester Minto, however, said a Swedish study in 1992 reported that the likelihood of childhood leukemia was 3.8 times higher in areas within 100 feet of towers that emitted EMFs than in areas farther from electronic waves. Hundreds of other independent studies have suggested that EMFs can cause medical problems, Minto said.

"It causes increased abortions [in cattle]," Minto said of electromagnetism. "It contributes to Alzheimer's. It disrupts the DNA structures in cells.

"It disrupts the calcium ion channels," he added, "and it's a killer."

Larry Williams, who owns property on CR 2001, asked if Oncor could use "monopoles" -- vertical concrete poles with 100- to 120- foot-wide easements -- instead of the lattice towers, which require 160-foot-wide easements, that company officials said they would prefer to use.

The PUC can order Oncor to use poles rather than lattice towers, said Autry Warren, Oncor senior director of transmission and municipal relations. The Brown-to-Newton project can be completed with fewer structures installed, however, Warren said, if Oncor uses towers instead of monopoles.

Each monopole is almost twice as expensive as a lattice tower, added Allen Nye of the law firm Vinson & Elkins, legal counsel for Oncor.

Lampasas County resident Jamie Briggs suggested placing transmission lines parallel to existing railroad rights of way to avoid cutting through the middle of fields.

Electric lines could run parallel to existing rights of way, Warren said, although the Oncor representative said transmission lines cannot pass directly over railroad tracks.

To minimize aesthetic disadvantages, several audience members suggested burying utility lines.

Because underground lines must be encased at high pressures, Warren said they can cost as much as $20 million per mile to install -- about 15 to 20 times the cost of overhead wires.

Although rare, citizen groups can advocate successfully for underground line placement. Citing PUC Docket 34440, Nye noted a Dallas case in which the PUC instructed Oncor to bury 0.7 miles of 345 kV lines. The installation cost between $12 million and $14 million, he said.

Along with the environmental concerns mentioned at Saturday's meeting, the possibility of lines crossing through the Lampasas River valley also has spurred a group of landowners to take action. Save the Lampasas River Inc. -- a coalition of property owners with land in Lampasas, Burnet and Bell counties -- has hired legal counsel to present the group's arguments against transmission lines near the Lampasas River.

Save the Lampasas River members believe the installation of large electric structures could harm the endangered golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo songbirds, as well as the "threatened" bald eagle, president Lynn Eyberg said during a telephone interview Friday.

Although not that concerned about bird electrocution, Mrs. Eyberg does worry that bald eagles, which she said nest year-round in some parts of the Lampasas River, could mistake large lines for a horizon and suffer serious injury if they crash into the lines.

"Putting those anywhere near where they feed or nest is a big nono," she said.

The silting and erosion likely to result from clearing easements, Mrs. Eyberg added, could harm Guadalupe bass populations, which she said already are suffering from hybridized small-mouth bass.

Although STLR "will not pick the route for Oncor," Mrs. Eyberg said the group has suggested using existing right of way on the stateowned Parrie Haynes Ranch, located northeast of a possible Lampasas River valley route. A two-year-old Oncor transmission line already runs along the 4,525- acre ranch's northeast border, she said.

An easement payment would generate additional funds for Parrie Haynes' owner, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Mrs. Eyberg said. Because the ranch is near Fort Hood, a utility easement also would provide a buffer for the military base against encroachments by private developments, the conservation group president added.

Save the Lampasas River members and the group's attorneys have met with Oncor officials and are trying to minimize the number of Lampasas River crossings if lines do go through the river valley.

Oncor held an open-house public meeting in Lampasas in June to give property owners whose land may be directly affected by lines an opportunity to mention their concerns and request alternative routes. Oncor officials stated several times last week that the company still is receiving public comments and has not picked preferred or alternative routes.

"We are still in the informationgathering stage," Oncor spokesman Chris Schein said in a telephone interview Friday afternoon. "The entire purpose of this time period is for there to be dialogue between all parties."

"Participation by you is real important," Warren added during his presentation Saturday.

Jaren Taylor, Vinson & Elkins associate, noted that Oncor already has more than 180 possible route combinations just for the line segments between Brown County and Kempner.

The PUC will make the final decision about the Brown-to-Newton project. The commission can approve Oncor's preferred route, OK a modified route or reject the line proposals.