William J. Kemble is reporting for The Daily Freeman Hudson 7, a group of seven Mid-Hudson Valley communities that draw their drinking water from the Hudson River, is requesting that a power cable carrying electricity from Canada to New York City not be laid in the river. The group, comprised of the towns of Esopus, Lloyd and Hyde Park; the town and village of Rhinebeck; and the town and city of Poughkeepsie, is arguing the 1,250-megawatt Champlain-Hudson Power Express line be run overland instead. “The project was developed without adequate input from [local water departments] and the New York State Department of Health,” Paul Malmrose, a consultant for the group, wrote in a report about the project. “The construction will present really unacceptable risks to 106,000 people, three hospitals, three colleges,” Malmrose wrote. “The...planned protections are flawed, inadequate and not preventative, and a terrestrial route must be considered.” The plan calls for the underwater cable to be run for 334 miles and be placed in 2-foot-wide trenches that would be up to 4 feet deep. The portion of the river from from which the local communities draw drinking water is less than 150 feet deep. Malmrose said significant problems could arise when the trench is dug using a method called jet plowing that blasts through sediment. “Jet plowing will churn up pollutants, which will remain in suspension at the bottom of the river, where our intakes are located,” he said. The power line developers said during a meeting last month with the Hudson 7 that they would pay to monitor any turbidity at intake points and are willing to meet with each of the municipalities to discuss individual concerns. Project representative Gene Martin said project planning began in 2009 and commented that he was unsure if local officials understand the scope of the work that has gone into addressing concerns. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.