Dominion responds to concerns about a monopole at the Lincolnia Park pool
Lincolnia Park residents who worried that Dominion Energy planned to construct a monopole at the community pool finally got an answer from the utility. Dominion was merely seeking eminent domain for a soil comparison test.
Dominion has completed the soil testing and has no further interest in the site.
The confusion started in July when Dominion sought permission to do soil testing at a field owned by the Lincolnia Park Recreation Club for a project it said was associated with its proposed substation to serve a data center planned for the Plaza 500 site on Edsall Road. Dominion threatened to use eminent domain powers if the LPRC refused to grant access to the field.
Leaders of the LPRC and Lincolnia Park Civic Association (LPCA) were concerned that Dominion might be planning a transmission line through their neighborhood, and repeatedly tried to get Dominion to reveal their plans for the property.
Related story: Dominion wants to construct a monopole at the Lincolnia pool for a data center
The Lincolnia pool, at 6501 Montrose St., is not near Edsall Road, but residents worried that Dominion might be considering an alternative substation site if the Planning Commission rejects its proposal for the Edsall substation.
“On Nov. 5, we finally received a response from Dominion that the Edsall project is not on LPRC property, and that no construction is planned there,” states an email from LPRC President Ingrid Torres-McCullough and LPCA President Karl Ensign.
“Based on this, it is our understanding and expectation that Dominion will not place, or seek to place, any Edsall-related development, infrastructure, transmission facilities, easements, or rights-of-way on or across LPRC property,” they said.
“It took nearly four months and substantial investment of time and resources on behalf of the LPRC and LPCA to receive these assurances,” Torres-McCullough and Ensign said.
“We understood that LPRC property was not located within the approved transmission corridor. Our concern was never based on a failure to understand the approved route,” they said. “It arose because Dominion’s subsequent communications and actions reasonably suggested that our property might be under consideration for an alternative transmission alignment or other project-related infrastructure.”
Related story: Residents urged to come out in force for the hearing on the Edsall substation
When the LPRC and LPCA leaders reached out to Dominion in August, “Dominion’s right-of-way representative described the authorization [for eminent domain] as a standard form for inspections of new and existing transmission lines.”
“Dominion simply reiterated the information that had created our concerns. At no point did its representative explain that LPRC was outside the approved corridor and was being used solely for comparative soil testing,” Torres-McCullough and Ensign said.
“LPRC expended its own financial resources responding to what Dominion’s communications reasonably suggested could be a threat to our property,” they said. “We also devoted extraordinary volunteer board time, organizational effort, and community resources to investigating the project, preparing correspondence, communicating with public officials, and organizing our response.”
“These were real expenditures and substantial demands on a volunteer-run nonprofit – not merely inconvenience or frustration,” they said. “If Dominion’s Nov. 5 explanation is accurate, these costs and disruptions were avoidable. A clear explanation in July, or even in response to our direct questions in August, could have prevented much of this effort.”