MARYLAND (WBFF) — As the transmission line saga continues, landowners called a new motion filed by the developers of the proposed 67-mile line “outrageous.”
The motion, recently filed by Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), asked the court to prevent property owners from hunting on a property “subject to the preliminary injunction on a day for which PSEG has given notice that it will conduct surveys and examinations authorized by the Court.”
In a statement, a PSEG spokesperson said, “As stated in the motion, comments made online by property owners regarding hunting while surveys are ongoing, raised significant concerns about the safety of surveyors in the field.”
ALSO READ | PSEG submits motion to ban Marylanders from hunting on their own property during surveys
One comment said, “hunters are going to be on the property now that it is deer season[.]” Another comment listed in the court filing said, “It’s hunting season, I’ve got plenty of deer. Survey at your own risk.”
“It’s another insult to this ongoing injury that that we are all suffering under here,” said Joanne Frederick, the President of STOP MPRP. “Personally, I feel it’s outrageous.”
According to court documents, PSEG said they cannot direct survey teams “to enter a property if there is a threat that firearms are being discharged on the property for hunting.”
Since officials with PSEG acknowledged the notice they give landowners, which could span during a two or three week window, could interfere with hunting season, they proposed property owners “request permission to hunt on certain days.”
“Now they’re coming on and saying, you know, not only do we want you not to hunt, we want you to email us and ask permission, and we’ll get back to you in 48 hours, if it’s convenient for us for you to hunt on your own land. So it is astounding, really, in some regards. And understandably, people are upset,” Frederick said.
“It’s not an insignificant portion of folks that really rely tradition, food, etc, on there, on hunting here,” Frederick added. “It’s just an incredibly difficult time to put another burden on landowners when the developer can just wait. They can just wait till hunting season’s over and then come back and do the rest of the surveys.”
Debbie Hattery, a landowner who lives in Frederick County, said she was puzzled by the motion, especially since she said PSEG has already been able to work around hunting regulations while surveying on her land.
“Sometimes I think PSEG likes to play the victim so they can go to the court and have the court settle the argument for them instead of dealing with the landowner,” she said.
PSEG also made two other filings, arguing that residents were violating court orders and threatening them. According to court documents, in one case a property owner “brandished a baseball bat to threaten surveyors, repeatedly interrupted surveying efforts, and has encouraged violence against the Company’s agents on social media.”
In another instance, a landowner allegedly failed to comply, telling surveyors to “shove the paper notice up their a**.”
Frederick said residents are frustrated by the ongoing situation.
“Again, we’ve told them time and time again, threatening violence does not do anyone any good,” she said. “But there are very few outlets here. We’re continuing to hope the governor steps up and says something, some strongly worded language, or actually say this is not acceptable. We’re going to stand with the landowners and help them protect their rights.”
So far, the court has yet to issue an order on the matter.
