By Sydney McCarter and Ameer Abedy

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Berea College’s Mountain Day tradition, the Berea Torch is covering a project that could have significant impact on nature in Madison County. Berea College is currently engaged in a lawsuit with the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC). This lawsuit is over the EKPC’s filing of an eminent domain suit to take a portion of the Berea College Forest for the building of a high voltage transmission line under the name of the “Big Hill Line.” The legality and potential environmental and human consequences of this project are unknown at this time; however, the Torch would like to bring awareness of the potential impact of this project.  

The EKPC is claiming to have categorical exclusion from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements for the construction of such a project.  NEPA is a federal law that requires federal agencies to conduct environmental and cultural impact studies for their proposed projects. While the Big Hill Line is not a federal project, the EKPC does receive federal funding from the Rural Utilities Service, which is a federal agency. Because the EKPC is receiving federal funding, they are bound by NEPA guidelines. However, an exemption can be given to projects that are deemed to have no significant impact on the quality of the human environment. The Rural Utilities Service has issued environmental assessments for other projects that the EKPC has carried out, so the exemption from NEPA regulations on this project has raised several eyebrows, including ours here at the Torch. In a phone call with Nick Comer, a representative of the EKPC, he stated that the RUS has granted the EKPC an exemption from NEPA, meaning that they are not legally required to publish a publicly accessible environmental impact study. He reiterated EKPC’s commitment to protecting the environment and maintaining the forest while also being able to serve its customers responsibly.   

Berea College has challenged the EKPC’s right to invoke eminent domain to carry out this project. Eminent domain is a legal practice that allows government agencies to take over private property for the public good. The core issue of this challenge is whether this project does, in fact, serve the public interest and thus warrant the taking of land from the college’s private ownership for the sake of the construction. As part of this challenge, Berea College’s legal team requested that the EKPC provide them with information pertaining to the powerline such as its location, capacity, technical functions of the power infrastructure, and more. The EKPC has filed a protective order to prevent the information that is being turned over to the college from appearing in public records. The College has challenged this protective order, arguing that the order is too broad and that the court ought to consider the need for transparency regarding a project that has been controversial within the public eye. The protective order was filed by the EKPC on September 12, 2025. The college filed its response on September 15, 2025, and the matter is still being adjudicated.  

In terms of potential impact on the human environment, the building of this kind of high voltage transmission line has the potential to do significant damage to the City of Berea’s water quality. In our research, we looked at a study produced by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, which had developed a comprehensive analysis of the potential impact of transmission lines on the environment. In their study of the effect of these sorts of projects on water quality, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin found that “The removal of adjacent vegetation can cause water temperatures to rise and negatively affect aquatic habitats. It can also increase erosion of adjacent soils causing sediment to be deposited into the waterbody, especially during rain events. Construction often requires the building of temporary bridges that, if improperly installed may damage banks and cause erosion or be overtopped or dislodged, and back up water.” All of these factors have the potential to pose a risk to the water we drink every day within the City of Berea.  

The question remains that if this project is “good” for the City of Berea and Madison County, what is the EKPC attempting to hide? Is the power cooperative afraid that if the city and county knew the extent of potential impacts of this project, there may be even stronger opposition, and therefore not serve a true public interest? The Torch will update this story as more becomes known.