ATHOL – A project to refurbish a major transmission line in Massachusetts and Vermont will include work to be done in Athol near the Millers River.

A consultant with BSC Group, the Worcester engineering firm assisting National Grid with the project, met with Athol’s Conservation Commission on Tuesday, July 23, to discuss the project. Theresa Portante, manager of ecological services and senior associate with BSC, said she wanted to meet ahead of the filing of a Final Environmental Impact Report with the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.

According to National Grid’s newenglanda1b2.com website, the refurbishment project is being done “to address the existing 69kV A1 and B2 transmission lines constructed in 1909 as they are approaching the end of their asset life.”

The transmission line runs from Vernon, Vermont, through the Massachusetts communities of Warwick, Royalston, Winchendon, Gardner, Westminster, Fitchburg, Leominster and Sterling. A “tap line” that runs from the Royalston substation to the Athol substation, located near the intersection of Main Street and Chestnut Hill Avenue, will also be upgraded, as will the Crystal Lake tap line in Gardner and a short tap line in East Westminster.

Portante said that the two power lines that run between the Athol and Royalston substations are secured to dual wooden poles. As part of the project, those dual poles will be replaced with metal monopoles, which will carry both lines.

“This way they don’t have to separate the lines onto different structures,” said Portante. “They were able to design a single structure that can support both, which reduces the amount of right-of-way that needed to be extended for the project.”

Portante said trees growing near – but not in – the right-of-way will not be removed, but their branches will be trimmed. She said the commission would be provided with plans detailing what vegetation will be removed as part of the project.

Portante said all of the environmental permitting – federal, state, and local – will not be completed until 2025.

“In terms of when construction is starting,” she said, “the period is 2025 to 2030. However, it’s not going to occur in five years on every segment of the line; it will be done in stages. We’re not going to be working in Athol for five years; it will depend on the pace of the work.”

According to documentation provided to the commission by Portante, BSC and National Grid have designed the project to minimize and, where possible, avoid any environmental impact. This includes reducing the need for work pads within environmental resource areas, placing new towers close to existing structures and siting replacement structures outside of wetland areas where possible.

Plans also call for the use of temporary soil erosion and sediment controls, employing temporary construction matting to protect soils and rootstock, and restoration of wetlands and other sensitive areas where possible.

Commission Chair Jim Smith told Portante that BSC should speak with the Department of Fish and Game regarding plans to establish a canoe and kayak launch on the banks of the Millers River near the corridor of the Athol tap line. The proposal calls for improved access to the site, currently served by a gated dirt road, and construction of a parking area adjacent to the corridor. The tap line spans the Millers River from the substation to a site just east of Chestnut Hill Avenue.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@aol.com.